Transformers Infinite
by LuisJM
Summary: Due to an unfortunate attack, Sari, Jack, Miko, and Raf all got sucked through a ripped tear and into a sky city called Columbia. Now in order to escape a Prophet and the Vox, they must join forces with a private detective and a mysterious girl. (Transformers/Bioshock Infinite crossover) (LuisJM/FictionFan1024 collab) (Raf/Elizabeth pairing)
1. Booker Dewitt

**LuisJM is back with an all new story for all you readers. Now before I could begin, let me give you a clear indication on what I'm going to do. First of all, this is not an episode of Season 3 of Transformers Prime. This is an entirely different Transformers Prime story, but a crossover none the less. You see, I play a game called Bioshock Infinite, one of the best games of 2013. See, Bioshock Infinite is one of my all time favorite games based around the story, atmosphere, enviroment, characters, gameplay, and an ending that gives a whole new meaning to the word twist. Even the characters of Booker Dewitt and Elizabeth are the top notch due to their chemistry around conversations and the way they work together in the battlefield. All and all, the best game out there and I request you get it and play it yourself if you're interested.**

**Anyways, I did a Bioshock Infinite story months back and toalorikan626 asked if I'm going to do a crossover with Transformers Prime. Now I told him that it would be impossible in doing a crossover of that because most of the Transformers have ground based vehicles and with a city like Columbia, that's in the air no less, seems to be impossible to accomplish. That of course leads me to the second thing I want to clear up. You see, there's an author and fan of my work, FictionFan1024 and he liked my Transformers stories since _'Sari's Life as a Teenage Robot'_. Hell, he's the one behind editing the chapters of my Season 3 story ark. But then, I requested that he do a story involving Sari being in the Transformers Prime universe and lo and behold, he accomplished that for me. He did four full episodes of his work and I shared with him some ideas that would make his story unique. I even have him make Jack, Raf, and Miko into his own little characters compared to mine (such as Jack being a techno organic like Sari, Miko being turned into a Predacon with a human alt mode, and Raf, turning into a 20-year-old super soldier). Now he's working on a series called the Skystrickers and would be using Sari, Jack, Miko, and Raf as a strike team. Just the thought of that gave me an idea of my own. A collaboration between me and him. I've already talked to him about it and he insisted in assisting me with this story. If you like, check out his stories. They're called Sari and Transformers Prime Episodes 1 – 4. I suggest reading all four chapters to get a better understanding of what's going on. But I'll give you a brief summary of the four on the next. But enough of that, let's put up the summary.**

**Due to an unfortunate attack, Sari, Jack, Miko, and Raf all got sucked through a ripped tear and into a sky city called Columbia. Now in order to escape a Prophet and the Vox, they must join forces with a private detective and a mysterious girl.**

**Chapter Notes**

**As I said before, this is going to be a crossover between Transformers Prime and Bioshock Infinite. So you need to check on both before getting a read, if you feel like it. Also this first chapter is pretty much the beginning of the game. I will make some changes throughout the rest of the story along with a surprise climatic that will leave everyone at the edge of their seat.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers Prime or Bioshock Infinite.**

**Let's get this started shall we?**

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><p><span>Transformers Infinite<span>

"Tell me, are you all afraid of God?"

"No… But we're afraid of you."

_The mind of the subject will desperately struggle to create memories where none exist…_  
><em>Barriers to Trans-Dimensional Travel,<em>  
><em>R. Lutece, 1889<em>

_I have witnessed their capacity for courage, and though we are worlds apart, like us, there's more to them than meets the eye._  
><em>Transformers<em>  
><em>Optimus Prime, 2007<em>

Coast of Maine: 1912

My name is Booker Dewitt. I'm a private investigator working for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency that handles business whether it be public or private. Of course before becoming one I was part of the 7th Cavalry (The Garryowen as it were) a band of stone cold soldiers led by Major Samuel M. Whitside whose goal was to suppress the labor unions and rioters. It's from there that I committed some heinous things at Wounded Knee. You can only imagine the travesties I had seen or done. It's pretty hard to swallow. After that I tried to redeem myself, to wash away the sins. But the direction I took didn't work out for me. But when I decided to start a detective business, my life spiraled out of control. Since then, I've been wasting my money, gambling at the horse races and I've done too much drinking. Worse yet, I did something that I couldn't forget. Anna… That brand on my hand tells it all. It marked the time that she was gone, because of me. My life has become a struggle and I was in some serious debt. But then one day, someone came to my office with a simple proposal. He told me that he would wipe away all of my debt in exchange for someone important. The exchange involves bringing a girl to him. I'd known my share of oddballs in my job, his, well it took the cake. But the offer seemed promising, and it would help me solve the many problems I had. So I accepted the offer to help my client bring the girl to him. Now here I am, at the coast of Maine, stuck in this rickety leaking boat in the middle of a rain storm. Some job this turned out to be.

"Are you going to just sit there?"

"As compared to what? Standing?"

"Not standing, rowing."

Oh yeah… Not only that, but I'm stuck with two people that seem to bicker a lot over some pointless things. Male and female, probably twins, wearing raincoats to protect themselves from the weather. Which, to mention, they could have lent me one, feeling soaked over here. The male was rowing the small boat while the female was sitting there, talking. I could tell that they were British by their accents, but I didn't get their names, or how they are related to my client. Probably some lackeys… At least they were taking me to where I needed to go, where ever that was.

"Rowing? I hadn't planned on it."

The female though took out something, a box of some kind, and gave it to me.

"So you expect me to shoulder the burden?"

I was curious about this little gift and took it, saying to her, "What's this?" But she didn't tell me and went back to talking with the gentleman. Taking the box, I could tell what it was:. A wooden box with a plaque in the middle that said, _'Property of Booker Dewitt: 7th Cavalry, Wounded Knee'_. Well at least they got that right. Wondered what was inside. I looked back at the two arguing while I concentrated on the location they were taking me. Looked like we were rowing far away from the coast, approaching a lighthouse of some kind. Is that where we're going?

"Coming here was your idea."

"My Idea?"

"I've made it very clear that I don't believe in the exercise."

"The rowing?"

"No, I imagine that's wonderful exercise."

"Then what?"

"This entire thought experiment."

Thought experiment? What in the world are those two are talking about? I decided to let that slide and asked if we're there yet.

"Excuse me. How much longer?"

Still they didn't respond as they kept on talking nonsense. I decided to check what was inside this box the woman gave me. unlatching the lock, I opened the box to see a wide variety of things. A postcard of some kind; a piece of paper that had pictures of a scroll; a key and sword with three separate numbers on each of them; a key to unlock something; a picture of someone; another paper with coordinates that head to New York, where my client is located; and a few coins (not much but I'll try to find more along the way). But the one thing that got my attention was the weapon inside the box, a trusty Broadsider pistol. I took it out and checked to see if it was loaded. Seeing the munitions in the gun, I felt satisfied and put it into my jacket.

"That'll work."

I went back to the box to see this picture of the girl. She looked like a young woman, probably around her twenties, with fair skin and ponytail hair with a bow on it. Sounds a little childish, but I'm not complaining. There was a name on the photo, her name, Elizabeth. Flipping the picture over, there was a message that said, _'Bring to New York. Unharmed'_. Hmm… Seems easy enough. Tossing the picture back in the box, I closed it and looked straight ahead, noticing that we were getting closer to the lighthouse.

"Perhaps you should ask him? I imagine he has a greater interest in getting there than I do."

"I suppose he does. But there's no point in asking."

"Why not?"

"Because he doesn't row."

"He doesn't ROW?"

"No. He DOESN'T row."

"Ah. I see what you mean."

Still had no idea what they were talking about. Only thing they kept talking about was the rowing. So annoying. Looked like we approached the docking area of the lighthouse. I could hear the woman letting me know, as if I didn't already know where we were.

"We've arrived."

Putting the box into my coat, I climbed up the ladder to get on the dock. Looking up at the lighthouse, a lot of questions were swirling through my head. Why am I here? Why this lighthouse? Is this girl in there? Is it one of the client's friends? There's something about this that doesn't feel right. As I was contemplating, I could hear the twins talking as they left.

"Shall we tell him when we'll be returning?"

"Would that change anything?"

"It might give him some comfort."

"At least that's something we can agree on."

Out of curiosity, I turned to the two as they were leaving.

"Hey! Is somebody meeting me here?"

Finally, they've managed to answer my question.

"I'd certainly hope so."

"It does seem like a dreadful place to be stranded."

I rolled my eyes, thinking that what they said sounded very off. Looking back at the lighthouse, I sighed and decided to get it over with.

"Ah, well maybe there's someone inside…"

I slowly walked up the pier as I looked at the lighthouse standing before me. It seemed kind of strange that a lighthouse like this would be in the middle of the water instead of at the coastline. Guess they don't like visitors. I also noticed a few boats along the way, tied to the pier, looking a little damaged. Perhaps someone was here after all. Walking up the spiral staircase, I approached the wooden door and was about to enter. But then I noticed a note on the door that read, _'Dewitt- Bring us the girl and wipe away the debt. This is your last chance!'_ and there was a little blood at the corner. Looked like someone was waiting for me, but why am I getting the feeling that this blood wasn't anything good. I knocked on the door just to see if this person was listening.

"Ah, excuse me. It's Booker Dewitt. I guess you're expecting me…"

No answer… I got a bad feeling about this. I slowly opened the door to see if there was some sort of trap waiting for me. So far, nothing out of the ordinary. But entering the lighthouse, I noticed some kind of washing station with a border message over it and a candle lighting next to the basin. Walking to it, I looked down at the basin filled with water and thought of washing myself. But looking up at the message on the portrait, it read, _'Of thy sins shall I wash thee'_. My assumption, it's some sort of cleansing area to wash away the sins. What I figured from that was, not all sins can be washed away.

"Good luck with that, pal."

Looking around, I decided to help myself to a few things around the area. Some food, a little drink, and a few coins scattered around. I then walked up the stairs, hearing music from above.

"Is anyone here? Hello?"

Reaching the second floor, I entered what appeared to be an office and living area, complete with a built-in kitchen, bed, and work desk with a map of the US along with some kind of scheduling display. Yet still, no one here. I headed to the phone to pick up and call someone, but the line was mysteriously dead. Almost like no one wanted to talk to the outside world. I checked the cabinets and barrels to get some more food and money when I noticed a bit of a mess over the second set of steps. A scuffle? I hope not. Walking up the steps, I see a handprint on the wall smeared in blood. I started to get a little queasy by that and slowly reached the top. By the time I got there, I was in for a bit of a shock.

"...Shit"

There was a dead body with a bag over his head, red blood in front, and a sign on it that said, _'Don't disappoint us.'_ Examining the body, I could tell that it had been dead for a while now, like a few days or so. Rigor Mortis must've kicked in. Well I guess I knew what happened to the guy. Poor bastard must've been tortured to death. Only question is, who was this guy. Was he one of the client's friends, or was he an enemy? Doesn't matter, he's dead already and I can't get anything out of him. Taking a few coins lying next to him, I noticed another set of steps and walked up it, leading me to the top floor and into the cold hard rain. Looking at the view, a few things came up in my head: dead body, no girl, and I'm stranded. Those two are going to get a serious tongue lashing from me. Looking around, I noticed a fancy looking door with a rotating light. Strange to have something like that in an old rickety lighthouse. Stranger was that there was no knob or lock. Only three sets of bells with engravings on it, first one was of a scroll, the second a key, and the third…

"Wait a minute, that card…"

Getting the box out, I took out a piece of paper that was in it and examined it. It would seem that the pictures on it were similar to the bells. And the numbers next to them… Could they be the number of times to ring it? Out of curiosity, I decided to follow what the card said. I rang once for the scroll, two for the key, and two for the sword and lights shining over them. Once I was done, I waited to see what happened next.

….

"Huh…"

Nothing… Wonder what that did? Suddenly, I could hear a loud long horn and the sky turned red. I looked up at the sky, as it gave me quite a scare.

"What in the world…?"

The sound then repeated the the rings I made. Then the light on the lighthouse did the exact same thing. Then the sky again. What was that? Morse code? Then something else happened. The door opened and the light dimmed and ascended upwards. The floor then twisted around and revealed a chair of some kind unfolding in front of me. Okay… That was weird… Taking all the things I need from the box and into my jacket, I entered the room, examining the chair and came to an honest conclusion.

"All right. Looks like they expect me to sit in their fancy chair."

Out of curiosity, I slowly took my seat, getting myself as comfortable as I could.

"So now what-"

Guess my curiosity got the best of me as metal clamps appeared on my arms and legs, trapping me completely.

"The Hell?"

The chair then started to spin as red velvet walls rose around me and an announcement was heard all around me.

'_Make yourself ready, pilgrim. The bindings are there as a safeguard.'_

Oh, you think? I could see the walls close all around me and lock in place. A million questions surged through my head. What's going on? What am I in? Is this a prison? Suddenly, the chair slanted downwards, putting me in a vertical angle. That position forced my pistol to slip out of my pocket, falling into what looked like some kind of fire projectors.

"No, no… Goddammit!"

I could now see the projectors shooting off fire one at a time as the pistol that dropped fell through the flames, almost like they were ready to lift off.

'_Ascension… Ascension…'_

Oh no… This really is going to take off. I could feel the lift rising back up as I'm forced to watch the window in front of me.

'_Ascension in the count of five...'_

No…

'_Count of four…'_

No, no, no, no, no!

'_Three.'_

I don't want to die in some rocket ship!

'_Two.'_

This isn't going to end well.

'_One.'_

NOOOO! I could feel the strange rocket lifting off the ground while I saw through the window that I was leaving the lighthouse in an ascending trajectory. The ride was rickety, and I could hear the strange voice echoing throughout the area.

'_Ascension… Ascension… Five thousand feet...'_

Okay Booker, just stay calm. You've been through some tough scrapes in your day.

'_Ten thousand feet...'_

Okay, maybe this is the worst of worst. What an embarrassing way to die.

'_Fifteen thousand feet…'_

This is it! This is the end! The clouds from the storm started to depart as the sun was coming through. I got blinded for a moment and thought for sure this rocket I was in blew up. But I didn't hear or feel an explosion. I opened my eyes just to see if it was over. But what I saw was something I didn't expect to see.

"Wha…?"

I didn't know what I was seeing, but it seemed to be buildings floating in the air by balloons, rockets, propellers, and other mechanisms to keep them afloat I saw huge blimps going around this floating city. But the one thing I saw that caught my attention was a huge statue of some kind of angel with huge wings welcoming people with open arms. It wasn't anything I'd ever seen before in my life. Yet the question remained: what is this place? Where am I? Is this Heaven? Because if so, I might need a place to stay.

'_Hallelujah.'_

* * *

><p><strong>So what do you guys think? A great start for a crossover. I know it's just the same as the game, but it will get interesting along the way. Hell, the next chapter would be the appearance of the Skystrickers along with other things from FictionFan. Hope you like it and stay tune for more. Please Review.<strong>


	2. Elicia Lutece

**Chapter two is finished and ready. Sorry it took a while, when you're doing this on Docs Google and have other stories on a day by day basis, it's never really easy to complete. But when you're committed, you're committed. Will this story take long due to other stories and homework and other random things, yes it will. But I know that FictionFan and I will keep this going while we do our other stories. It's what we do. Checking back to the last chapter, I'm upset about it. One little guest review and 152 hits. Not as popular as my version as season three. But hey, this is just a start of the story. I'm hoping that more of the story and more chapters will get their attention. Speaking of which, The Skystrikers headed to the Unit: E science facility to meet up with a particular scientist to see her latest invention. But when a few certain MECH agents interfere with the visit and overload the device, it could lead to some serious consequences. Hope you enjoy it.**

**Chapter Notes**

**The Skystrickers (Sari, Jack, Miko, and Raf) will make their debut on this chapter. Now FictionFan1024 did stories about them and how they came to be. If you want to read it, go on ahead and check out Sari and Transformers Prime Episode 1 – 4. But if you don't want to waste time on that, I've already put together a brief summary on each of them at the beginning just to help you catch up on things. Either, they both explain about them 100%. Same goes with the two MECH agents as they are in the Skystriker series FictionFan is writing now. He might add more in the near future. But for now, he's focusing on something bigger. Trust me, it's going to be a blast.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers Prime or Transformers Infinite**

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><p>Chapter 2: Elicia Lutece<p>

Somewhere above Earth: 20XX

Far above the Earth's surface, there was nothing but clouds in the sky. But then, a huge structure floated through the clouds, journeying over the planet's surface. That structure was a spaceship of some kind, just as big as the Nemesis, but not as intimidating. It is known as the Skybolt, and it houses 150 crew and maintenance personnel, human and alien. The few were known as the Skystrikers, a strike team formed by Agent Fowler to help assist in any threat, whether it be Decepticons or MECH.

Within the ship, two individuals were at a lab of some kind, The first one sitting at the desk was a male of twenty years old with spiky brown hair and wearing a custom battle armor that looked heavy, but light in movement with hidden compartments for his pistols and combat knife, flamethrowers on his wrist, and a built in jetpack on his back to help him fly. The other standing was a female that looked like a teenager, but in reality was actually a few years older than she looked with short fiery red hair in two small pigtails and a yellow dress with built in fingerless glove sleeves and long lighter socks with slip on shoes. They are Sari Sumdac and Raf Esquivel, members of the Skystrikers with Sari being the captain.

Sari used to live in an alternate universe when a spacebridge malfunction sent her to Team Prime's world. Though it was unexpected, Sari was a big help with the team. Every mission she'd done, from rescuing Miko to stopping Kālī (Sari's evil Decepticon clone), gave the Autobots a chance to fight back. But if it wasn't for her, the team's human friends would've been taken by Cons and used as bargaining chips so the Autobots would surrender the Omega Keys to them. Then there's no telling what Megatron would do with the Omega Lock. She even completed her Cyber Ninja training and joined her Cyber Ninja brothers, alive and dead. She was about to join the Autobot Academy on her Cybertron and train to be an officer, however Agent Fowler and the Optimus in the Prime world gave her a proposition. One, now that the Cybertron is revived, the planet needed its own Ninja corps and would let her be a Sensei to train future ninja's starting with Jack. Secondly, Fowler wanted to put a team together to help with protecting the planet. A team that is called the Skystrikers and she would become the leader of this team.

The one called Rafael was once a young 12-year-old with a brilliant mind and incredible hacking abilities but then one day, he was taken by MECH, a group of terrorists dedicated to world domination through the use of technology. While waiting at school he was captured and administered with a super-soldier serum that not only made him grow to an adult but also wiped his mind clean of his past life. He had done many terrible things in his MECH missions and was about to breach into the Autobot's base to gain Intel for Levichev his General. Fortunately, Miko intervened and made him remember about the bad things of his life, snapping him back to his old self. But as he was back, he was suffering from a deadly side effect that causes accelerated aging, developing a DNA repair-deficiency disorder, the nearest in the taxonomy to which would be classified as Werner Syndrome. Being that he had around a year to live, Sari and her friends took Raf to her dimension to get treated by the beings on Deneb IV to get cured. Not only have they succeeded in saving Raf and bringing him back to the 20-year-old agent's superhuman status, but extended his age to 1,000, to keep him young for a long time. Now he's within the Skystrikers as the team's computer hacker and expert in all scientific endeavors.

Raf is sitting in his lab with Captain Sari. They are having a 3-way teleconference with Ratchet at Outpost Omega One and Agent Fowler at Unit:E Headquarters, discussing the modifications he's made to Skybolt's spacebridge.

"How do the specifications look, Ratchet?" Raf started, " I believe they should match the modifications we made to the bridge at your base, which allows transit between our dimension and Captain Sari's."

"You've got everything correct, Rafael," said Ratchet. "Has Bulkhead completed the enlargement of your bridge to accommodate Miko when she's in Predacon form?"

"He's nearly complete," said Sari. "Of course, she can always fly through in human form, sprouting her Predacon wings if necessary," she smiled.

"Granted," said Fowler, "but I want her to be able to use the bridges in either form."

"Now, what about the ability to transit to other dimensions? What progress have you made on that?" Fowler asked Raf.

"Some," Raf replied. "The problem, of course, is knowing the target dimensions."

"I have a recommendation," said Fowler. "Here at Unit:E, we've got a scientist working on something you may find interesting. Her name is Dr. Elicia Lutece; a brilliant theoretical physicist we were able to snatch away from Oxford University. She and her team are building a machine we are calling _"The Lutece Tear"_. When perfected, it will be capable of opening portals, or tears, to an infinite number of dimensions."

"Wow! That's exactly what I'd like to collaborate on," Raf replied.

"Thought you'd be intrigued," he smiled. "In fact, why don't the Skystrikers come down to headquarters? She can meet with you and show you her work. Raf, you two can get together and help each other with any impediments to your projects."

"Very good, Agent Fowler," said Captain Sari, "I'll assemble the team."

"I'd like to tag along as well," said Ratchet.

"Sounds like a plan then. I'll let Dr. Lutece know you're coming."

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><p>"So what's this tear doohickey she's got?" asked Miko, as the Skystrikers assembled in the Skybolt transport room.<p>

Now Miko is what some people call a wild child. Even before she joined the Autobots, she was always a troublemaker, jumping into the action without any regard for her safety. However, her risk taking moves got the better of her. When the Autobots and Dinobots took on Predaking, Miko went into the action to take some photos of the battle. Unfortunately, she got too close to the creature as it attacked her and left a gash on her shoulder. At first it was nothing and everyone assumed she would recover. But what they didn't know was that the cut had infected her with Predacon CNA, slowly spreading into her system. The side effects were evident: hellacious nightmares, bursts of anger, hearing of Predaking's voice, increased strength and rage, until finally transforming into a Were-Predacon, wreaking havoc all across a military base. Fortunately, Sari managed to contain the Predacon side of Miko and temporarily cured her during the battle, but it would be a matter of time before Predaking's nature took hold of her again and ultimately change her into a full Predacon. With the help of Jazz, they were able to contain and banish Predaking's control, and saved Miko from being permanently turned into one of Predaking's minions. But the bad news is that she now has a Predacon body that isn't as big as the original size, with her human self to be that of an alt mode. After intensive training and controlling her Predacon nature, Miko is not only an honorary member of the Wreckers, but also the Skystrikers so-called wild card in the group. She wears a tight fitting skin suit complete with connected shoes and a color pigment of purple and pink. She still has her black hair with pink highlights, lotus flower pigtails on the top of her head, and a small ponytail at the back, but now she's got the strangest eyes you've ever seen, like that of a dragon with a yellow glow and slit pupils (one of the many side effect of her Predacon nature).

"It's a device that should open portals to other dimensions," explained Raf. "She believes there are an infinite number of them."

"So, if you step into this Lutece Tear, what if it's a one-way trip? I mean, I assume there's not another Lutece Tear at the target dimension to bring you back," said Jack, in his usual overcautious manner. "Has she perfected a comm. link that transits dimensions as well? And if there truly are an infinite number of dimensions and someone gets lost – well! How do you go about searching for your lost person?"

Once Jack was an ordinary teen that thought living with transforming aliens was weird enough, but that was when Sari came into their lives. During the attack of Kālī, Jack scraped his knee in an explosion, but when he looked at the damage, he was shocked to find circuitry in the open wound and not blood. That's when he found out the shocking truth: that he's a Technorganic that was cut from the same clothe as Sari in her dimension. He learned that his mother found him in a capsule that was entering the final stages of his protoform state. When she touched him, the protoform absorbed her DNA and created an infant Jack. At first he was completely upset that his own mom kept this secret from him all these years. But after a serious talk with Sari, he forgave June and they were together again. Soon after that, he learned how to be a Technorganic, from the weapons he possessed to the training. He's been through a lot since his discovery, such as the surprise arrival of his father, the attack of the Predacon that injured him to the point that he needed a full Cybertronian body until his Technorganic was repaired, and when his own mother got taken and turned into a Decepticon cyborg that was hungry for destruction, only for him to save her from herself and brought her back. But after all of that, he was strong-willed and would never give up. Due to that, Jack became a student for Sari and began his ninja training, he became a reliable member of the Skystrikers, and became Arcee's Sparkmate and the two have Spark Bonded to be closer together.

"Good questions, Jack. I don't know," Raf replied. "These are all things that will have to be answered before the device can be put into production."

"The bridge is ready for your team, Captain Sari," said Technical Specialist Ro.

"Thank you, Ro," she replied, and they stepped into the tunnel, as the blue Sirian pulled on the lever to send them down to Earth. They stepped into the recently built bridge tunnel and headed straight to Unit: E's science labs to meet up with Fowler and Lutece.

* * *

><p>In a huge facility area with the <em>'E'<em> title on the garden center and multiple buildings surrounding it, two individuals were waiting outside; waiting for someone to come. Suddenly, a green and blue portal opened up and four individuals came through it. Those individuals were the Skystrikers, who met up with the two. So far, they already knew of Agent William Fowler, a former Army Ranger, liaison of the Autobots, and one of the founders of the Skystrikers. But there was a woman next to him that they had never seen before. She was around her thirties with a lean yet fit build, long ginger hair that forms into a ponytail, and a pair of light blue eyes. She was wearing a lab coat over her conservative blouse and fitted skirt that went down to her knees with high heel boots and a pair of glasses over her eyes to match with her intellect. The group looked at the two as Fowler stepped in and welcomed them.

"Welcome to Unit; E's Science Division, Skystrikers," he said, "It's nice to see you all have showed up for this momentous occasion."

He then offered a handshake, as Sari was the first to shake it and said, "Likewise, sir. Can't wait to see what this team can do."

Once they stopped shaking hands, Fowler turned to the woman and introduced her to them.

"Team, I would like to introduce to you one of our chief scientists in our division."

Before the agent could finish what he was going to say, the woman approached the captain and introduced herself in a British accent while shaking her hand.

"My name is Dr. Elicia Lutece. I'm the one in charge of the Lutece Tear. You must be the Skystrikers. Fowler informed me about all of you, especially you, Captain Sari. Coming from another dimension is quite a fascinating find for me."

Sari gave a warm smile to her and responded back, "Thank you, Doctor. I'm surprised that you were intrigued about my arrival."

"That and more my dear," Lutece said back, "that and more."

As they were being introduced, Jack looked around and noticed that someone was missing. So he turned to Fowler and said, "Hey! Where's Ratchet? I thought he was going to be with you guys."

The agent looks to him and said, "He's already in the building looking at the device. There's a room in the back for him to fit in. We'll meet up with him shortly."

"But for now," Lutece continued, "let me show you what I've been working on for the last few number of years. This way."

She then turned around and headed to the entrance of the buildings as the team looked on and had some silent looks.

"Wow… Ain't she a ray of sunshine." Miko said with the sour taste of her voice.

Fowler looked to them and told them that it was all right. "She's a bit of a stick in the mud, yes, but it is in her family's genes. Come now, we can't keep her waiting."

Soon enough, the group followed Lutece and entered the building. However, what they didn't know was that someone was sneaking into the area. Two individuals jumped over the fence with their amazing agility and made a dash to the wall of the building. Getting past the security cameras and trip alarms, they spotted a ventilation shaft and one of them opened the grating with sheer strength. The two then went through the vents and were making their way to their objective.

* * *

><p>Dr. Lutece gave Fowler and the Skystrikers a tour of her lab in Unit:E's science division. Looking around, they were amazed at what they were seeing. Her lab was a combination of old and new styles of science with high-tech computers and equipment, chalkboards, boards filled with old research papers that have been preserved, and a lot of inventions that she must've used in the past. The group looked on and was in awe by her lab.<p>

"Wow…" Miko said, looking on to the mess, "You're really are quite a busy woman huh?" Lutece looked to her and said, "Well, most scientists deserve to work in a creative chaos, to help us focus with the task at hand."

Jack looked at the mess on the table and was a little creeped out by it all. "Sort of reminds me of my old bedroom in Jasper."

He continued to look around and spotted something else on the wall. In between two chalkboards was a picture of a woman that was similar to Elicia, but looked like someone from another time. Her ginger-like hair was short and styled to a little poof, she was wearing a brown suit with a light brown vest over a white buttoned down shirt, a green tie, and a red skirt dress that went down to her feet, and she was holding an apple. Looking at the picture out of curiosity, he turned to the doctor and asked her about it.

"Dr. Lutece, who's that woman? I swear she looks just like you."

Elicia turned to Jack as she saw the picture of the very woman that was similar to her. With a bit of a smile, she said, "Oh, that's my great grandmother, Rosalind Lutece. She was a professor in quantum physics and dedicated her work in creating inventions that can help push us towards the future."

The others turned to the picture as well and were amazed to see the similarities between the two.

"Ah…", Sari started, "So your family are physicists and you're following in their footsteps. You certainly have experience in the field."

Elicia turned to the Skystriker leader and nodded in agreement. "In a way, yes. My great grandmother wanted to change the world with her inventions. Rounded out the plans to create a better tomorrow. She showed it to the Ministry of Science and the U.S. Government and was promised that they will all go into fruition. They were all pleased with her work, but believed that the world wasn't ready for her marvels. But they decided to make her head of the science division and she worked feverishly till her last breath. For decades though, my family line continues to create the tool she left behind. All of the wonders passed down to me. I was hoping to enter the field after I graduated from Oxford. But since your Autobot friends arrived on Earth and all this nonsense that's been happening since, Fowler here picked me out of the university so I can begin my work. Since then, I've created many things that would be helpful for them."

"And she never gives up on her work, right professor?" Fowler asked.

Elicia turned and nodded, "That's right, Fowler. All you see around my lab are the blueprints my great grandmother had done. Though she never got around to finishing them, she always left it for future generations to pick up where she left off. Now that I have possession of her plans, I not only picked up where others started, but I modified the plans as I see fit. And as you can see, it really does bear fruit."

The others listened to her story, intrigued by Lutece's family history. Miko on the other hand was getting bored as she yawned a little and said, "So what, you're some high class genius? Snoresville…"

Elicia turned to the Predacon hybrid and gave her a scornful look. "Am I boring you Miko?" she asked, "Perhaps a woman of your caliber can never grasp the science behind our work. Allow me to show you one of my earlier creations."

She approached one of the tables and picked up a cylinder-like device, showing it to the team and explaining what it is.

"This is called the Lutece Field, my great grandmother's first work. In this cylinder contains a special atom that can suspend inanimate objects in midair. It is something her colleagues called quantum levitation, to her the object failed to fall. That apple in that picture was the first thing she tested on and though it doesn't show, it did work. Here, allow me to demonstrate."

Getting to the side, she input a little code on the screen to activate the atom. Once she got it all set, the cylinder started to hum to life as she lifted it up with her bare hand. After a few short seconds, she let go of the device but it didn't drop. Instead it was floating in off the ground and bobbing up and down like a beach ball in water. Everyone looked at the device and was speechless as to how it was even floating in the first place.

"Amazing!" Raf said in shock, "I've never seen anything quite like that."

"I could agree with you Raf." Sari responded, awestruck, "I mean, the Cybertron in my world has a lot of technology beyond Earth's, but this? I don't think Preceptor could accomplish that."

Lutece looked to them and smiled after hearing it. "Thank you kindly. The Lutece Field is an advancement in science, but it had not been used for some time. But it did have some potential in the work. So upon Bryce's orders, I've begun using the Field in various ways, trying out various objects to suspend in the air. And then I used this Field to create a crowning achievement. I hope the flight in Skybolt was a pleasant one at best."

Miko heard that and blinked her dragon like eyes, realizing what she meant. "Whoa, whoa!" she started, "Back up. You're telling me that Skybolt is run by that atom thingie?"

The scientist turned to her and nodded in agreement. "But of course. Plus given the size of the ship, the height it needs to take, and the weight of it all, I've taken the liberty of installing fifteen atoms to help counter balance it all. What did you think the ship was running on, rocket boosters, gravity suspenders, and thrusters?"

The girl looked on with a dumb expression as she tried to get an answer out of her own mouth. "Um...Yes?"

Elicia cocked an eyebrow and found her response to be a little sheepish. "It's amazing that a girl your age, who can transform into a metal dragon, knows so little about a ship she's currently living in."

"And what's that suppose to mean?" Miko said with smoke coming out of her mouth, looking ready to spit out fire. Fortunately, Sari stopped her from having a serious meltdown and turned to Lutece to apologize. "You should forgive my teammate here, Ms. Lutece. Though she is the best thrasher for the Skystrikers, she is a little bit of a hothead."

Elicia smiled and said, "None taken, Sari. I have that problem with my staff, thinking that it would be impossible. Boy how wrong they are. But levitating a ship is only the beginning. Imagine what the Lutece Field would do for the planet. The potential to make battleships floating high in the air to attack the enemy from below. Cruises through the clouds that would make airline travel a thing of the past. Or better yet, a city high in the sky. The possibilities are endless."

Fowler though turned to her and told her to not get a little ahead of herself. "Easy now, Ms. Lutece. I know you're persistent regarding your little experiment, but I think it's wise to wait for approval by the United Nations before making all that a reality. Patience is a virtue."

Elicia turned to the former Army Ranger and nodded in agreement. "Of course, perhaps the public isn't ready for all of this quite yet. But I can wait until the time is right." She then deactivated the Lutece field and let the cylinder drop to her hand, placing it back on the table. "Of course, you're not here for that. You wish to see the greatest achievement my family has ever done."

"That's why we're here, Doctor." Sari said in sheer enthusiasm.

Lutece looked to them smiling, saying, "Come, and let me show you."

Soon enough, she led the way as the group followed them, not realizing the trouble that's coming their way.

* * *

><p>In the hallway of the Lutece wing, everything was quiet as a lone guard was posted, keeping watch for anything suspicious. He didn't notice that a ventilation grating was being lifted as someone came down on the floor and pulled something out. Suddenly, a string came over the soldier's head and clamped right to the neck, tightening around him in a matter of seconds. The guard was unprepared for that and tried to radio for help. But he was choked to the point of unconsciousness and went limp as the radio fell off his hand. The individual grabbed the radio before it dropped to the floor and another person came down next to him. Standing up, light came on their faces as the two were shown as clear as day.<p>

The first is of Middle Eastern descent and the other was Indian, both wearing the same battle armor as that of Raf. Their names are Mehrdad (a soldier specializing in every form of weaponry be it human or alien) and Aanan (an experienced hacker), super soldiers created the same way as Raf but with some improvements. They were sent by General Levichev to gather information from Elicia Lutece and her experiments, believing that whatever this scientist was working on could be useful for MECH.

Once the soldier was unconscious, the two dragged his immobile body to a broom closet and stepped in, closing the door behind them. It was quiet for a few extra minutes until the door opened again and the MECH agents stepped out, only this time in lab coats. With forged badges, they proceeded to Lutece's restricted areas, to look for something useful.

* * *

><p>Back with Lutece and the Skystrikers, the professor was showing them something on the HD monitor. The digital screen showed Earth in a rotation and Elisa discussed about it.<p>

"A long time ago, my great grandmother had a theory. She believed the there are multiple dimensions, each with their own Earth."

The Earth on the screen soon enough multiplied by two, then four, then eight, then sixteen, soon enough multiple Earth's covered the screen as the doctor continued.

"Each Earth is the same, but in reality there are differences within each world, different times, and different events. My great grandmother believed that we are living in one of these dimensions and that there were lots more beyond ours. Sadly though, she didn't have the evidence needed to show that her theory was correct. That was until months back."

She then turned to Sari and went on with the lecture.

"Sari, when you came to our world through a malfunctioned spacebridge in yours, you proved my great grandmother's theory. Thanks to you, we have the opportunity to not only go to your dimension, but an infinite number of universes."

Sari listened in and was pleased that the little accident she went through had helped Lutece understand multiple dimensions. Still, there was the question of how. "That's good to hear Dr. Lutece, but there's the concern of transiting these Infinite universes. Fowler told me that you have a way of crossing over, correct?"

Lutece smiled and said, "But of course I have. In fact, this project was something my great grandmother was working on for years. Allow me to introduce to you the Lutece Tear."

She then turned a chalkboard over, showing an old schematic from the early 1900s. The group looked on and could tell that it was the Lutece Tear she'd been talking about. It was a cylinder-like structure that's exposed on the outside with two beams holding together. On the top was a huge disk with multiple glass bulbs dotting around the borders and two prods sticking out on the side and slanted in the direction of the circle platform. There were cables sticking out on the sides as well as the top looked like it came out of a Frankenstein movie with a huge prod. The group looked at the blueprint as Lutece continued.

"The Lutece Tear is what my great grandmother would call a window to another world. How it works is that this contraption can rip a hole through the fabric of space and time and act as a telegraph of some kind. It was an impressive apparatus and would have revolutionized travel in a way that is."

The group listened in and was amazed that a contraption like that could do that, but there were still questions in the matter of the device per se. "If this device works so well, why wasn't she able to make it work." Raf asked.

The scientist shrugged her shoulders and said, "She had the vision, yet she never got the chance to create it due to multiple reasons. Something about crossing over worlds would lead to consequences. She never got around to making it. Thankfully, all these plans were passed down to the family and right down to me. And due to Sari's unexpected arrival, I've decided to work on this project of the Lutece. And after a few trial and errors, I was able to complete it. Come, I'll show you."

She then started to walk to the next room as the team and Fowler followed behind. The group then walk down the hallway as Lutece continued on.

"My great grandmother believed that once she opened the Tear, she could actually cross over through multiple worlds and time periods, communicate with people in these dimensions, and ultimately create interdimensional travel in between worlds. It's a shame that she was never able to make her vision a reality. But now that I have possession of her work, I can follow in her footsteps."

"I hope this Lutece Tear of yours is worth it, Elicia." Sari said, "I believe it can help with our space bridge, if not surpass it."

Elicia smiled as she approached a huge metal door in front of them. As she was inputting a certain code, she added something that would prepare them for what's on the other side of the door. "Well, as I was working on it, I did make a few modifications."

The moment she pushed enter, the door slowly started to open like a garage door. Once it was opened fully, the team looked on and couldn't believe what they were seeing. It looked like the exact same device from the old blueprints, but this was ten times better than on paper. It was a few stories tall, enough height to let a Cybertronian through, the platform itself is hexagonal in shape, is surrounded by panels, and multiple cables connected to the many terminals with other scientists and maintenance personnel working around the clock. The group was amazed by this incredible feat as Miko whistled to herself and said, "Whoa… A few modifications indeed."

"Well, look who decided to see this historical moment."

The group heard that strange voice and turned to the left to see who it was. What they saw was Ratchet himself as Raf approached him, happy to see him.

"Hey there Ratchet, it's been a long time." he said with a proud look in his face. "How are things at the base?"

Ratch smiled and said, "A little quiet now since you guys went on your own adventures. But I'm glad you all are handling yourself without us. By the way, Bumblebee said hi. He misses you so much."

Raf smiled and said, "Nice to hear. I miss Bumblebee too. He's been a good friend to me since day one. But I know that we'll meet again someday."

As they were talking, Lutece cleared her throat and got their attention.

"If you don't mind, shall we get started with my work?"

The two turned to her and nodded in agreement, knowing that this is important. Elicia then looked up to the machine she built and explained the modifications.

"As you can see I've made a few simple adjustments with Lutece Tear, for one I did increase the size of this machine just so Cybertronians could go through. The shape is more hexagonal then circular to make more room for many occupants. Panels are installed to have a big enough tear to open so more people can come through and once activated, glow a deep purple. Also a project of this caliber needs to have a sufficient power source. The tear is supplied by multiple conduits that gives it unlimited power for it to work, a small power station has been constructed near the building to help with the power and prevent any outages in the facility or any towns that are close by. Have to make sure that we don't get any complaints."

Sari looked at the device and was marveled by the work.

"Incredible," she said in astonishment, "very incredible."

Lutece gave a slight chuckle and liked the captain's response. "My family set the bar high in something like this, a little tweak can go a long way."

"Ms. Lutece..." Ratchet said as she turned to him wondering what he wanted, "Yes," she responded, "What is it Ratchet?"

"This is quite an impressive apparatus you've worked on, but I am concerned about any consequences. Since I've built the ground bridge, I need to be sure that there are no flaws within my work or it could lead to some trouble. Have you've encountered any problems with your Tears?"

The scientist could tell that he needed to see if there were mistakes in her work and started to be honest with him.

"Well, we have came to two obstacles that were in the way of my work."

"Really?" Raf said in surprise that she had a few problems as of late, "What kind?"

Elisa gave a deep sigh and explained about the setbacks.

"Well the first hurdle was testing the device on a few monkeys, just to see if they passed through without any problems. I've set it to a dimension we've charted that isn't hostile and sent them through. All the monkeys made it back and forth flawlessly, but the first monkey had suffered a few side effects upon entering the portal."

The group looked to her and was intrigued with that as Sari asked about the first monkey.

"The chimp that suffered the side effects," she asked, "What were they?"

She turned to the captain and explained about that. "Well, when our first chimp entered the portal, he had succumbed to some temporary side effects. They include dizziness, slight memory alteration, and there was a case where the monkey had a bit of nose bleeding. But it was one test subject; the others didn't have those types of side effects of any kind. So it could be a one-time thing. So far, we managed to get the kinks out of the way and are ready to bring humans and Cybertronians into the tear device."

"If the government approves of it, Ms. Lutece." Fowler immediately interrupted her. "We cannot let you do human testing unless you have approval."

She turned to the agent and gave a slight smile. "But of course Fowler." she said, "I have all the time needed to continue working with animals before I get a chance with using people."

"And the second?" Raf asked.

She turned to the others and talked about the second problem.

"Well the second issue we have is that the panels contain a specific combination of elements which, unpowered, are inert, but once supplied by energy from the station, become volatile. That is why the panels are surrounded by heavy framing, to keep them from coming in contact with each other."

"And what happens if they come in contact with each other?" asked Jack.

"A large explosion and fire," she replied. "That's the theory. Of course, if the tear is active for too long, it may have other unintended consequences, none of them good."

"Oh great," Jack thought to himself. "A bridge to another dimension, or an A-bomb."

She looks to Jack and told him it was all right. "Don't worry; my team and I have come up with a few fail safe protocols to prevent future calamities. And once the kinks have been worked out, this will revolutionize transportation."

Sari turned to Jack and could tell that he was a little nervous. _"I'm sensing strong negativity in your Spark,"_ said Sari silently to her Gakusei. _"Are you alright?"_

"_Sorry, Sensei,"_ he replied, _"I don't like this device. It's too dangerous."_

"_Your skepticism is legitimate, but as long as it's under carefully controlled parameters, things should be safe."_

"Perhaps a little demonstration can help ease any hesitation. I think Sari's dimension will be the perfect place to start, just to be on the safe side of course. Given the large number of worlds, there's no telling if any of them could be hostile. Which location in your dimension, Captain?" the scientist asked Sari.

"Let's see Detroit," the Cyber Ninja replied. And Dr. Lutece headed to one of the terminals and set the console's parameters accordingly.

The device started to hum to life as electricity danced around the top and the panels glowed purple. Just then, a rippage came out a thin air and opened up a _"tear"_ to reveal an aerial view of downtown Detroit. Everyone watched in surprise that the device could do something like that. Miko though was a bit skeptic and asked away.

"Hey, how do we know that's not our Detroit?" said Miko.

"Oh, it's not!" said Sari. "Look! There's Sumdac Tower!" she smiled.

Everyone watched in amazement as the tear showed Sari's world. But there were two more people that saw this as well. Those two were Aanan and Mehrdad as they entered the restricted lab and saw the project in the works. When they saw the opened tear, they were really fascinated as they whispered to each other.

"Whoa… Did you see that Mehrdad?" asked Aanan.

Mehrdad nodded and responded back. "Sure did Aanan. A machine that can open portals to many worlds. Can you imagine what MECH can do with that?"

"Yeah, no kidding." Aanan agreed, "Anahi will have a field day gathering recruits all across multiple dimensions. We've got to get that for the general."

Nodding, he looked around to see everyone distracted on the project. Seeing a console that's not being used, he decided to act now. "Aanan! Now's your chance! Get the schematics!" whispered Mehrdad.

"On it!" and Aanan stealthily worked his way over to an unused terminal, and began hacking into Dr. Lutece's private files.

As they were doing that, the team watched on and was marveled by Lutece's work. But then the tear started to grow weaker and sparks danced around the panels. Lutece saw that and knew what that meant. "Oh bugger… Not again." She turned to the other scientists and signaled to shut it down. They started to get the shutdown sequence in and the tear closed off completely while the machine was turned off. Rubbing the temples of her head, she turned and apologized about what happened.

"My apologize for this my friends, the Lutece Tear has a few hiccups from time to time. Nothing too serious, just the minor glitches. I swear I thought I got the matter fixed up."

Raf then approached her and told her it was all right. "It's okay, we all had been there before. We just got to live with it and work harder in making it better. Besides, this project of yours does show some potential. Perhaps if we work together, then maybe this Tear can actually work."

Elicia turned to him and gave a pleasant smile, "Thank you Raf, I'm certain that your help can get my tear creation off the ground in no time."

Ratchet through decided to join in and see if he can assist. "Perhaps I should help out as well. I may know little about Earth technology, but this Tear thing can be useful for Team Prime if we come into contact with alternate versions of ourselves, just like Sari's counterparts."

Elicia turned to the medic and nodded in agreement. "But of course Ratchet," she said with glee, "It would be nice to have additional help in this matter. Perhaps have some Cybertronian equipment to keep this machine running smoothly."

As they were talking, the others looked on and were glad at the three talking.

''Well would you look at that?'' Fowler said, "It looks like those three are sharing ideas with each other."

Sari looked to them too and was glad that they are working together. "You can say that again. Looks like those three will be able to revolutionize interdimensional teleportation together."

Jack though looked to the conversation as well and was still hesitant, saying, "I don't know about that, Sensei. After what I saw of this Tear, I still feel worried about it."

Sari turned to her student and let him know that everything will be all right.

"Don't worry about it, Jack. With those three, they might perfect travel through infinite worlds. I'm certain that this Lutece Tear will revolutionize teleportation."

"Then why do I still have the sick feeling in my spark that it's not going to be good?" Jack asked with a bit of concern.

Half-interested, half-bored by the proceedings, Miko was looking around at all the equipment, when suddenly her Predacon _"danger"_ mod started firing. She turned to see Aanan and Mehrdad, over in a remote corner of the lab away from everyone else, and became suspicious. "What are those guys doing?" she wondered, and walked up to Sari and Fowler

"Hey, do you know those two?" she whispered to Fowler, pointing to the two MECH agents.

"I don't recognize them at all," he replied, and approached them.

* * *

><p>Back to the two MECH agents, Aanan was still downloading the schematics of the Lutece Tear into MECH's database while Mehrdad was keeping watch, peeking back, he said to the hacker, "What's taking so long?"<p>

Aanan lifted his hand and replied back, "Give me a few minutes, I almost got it. Damn bitch put too much information for me to download. I'll finish it as soon as possible."

"Well you better hurry up!" whispered Mehrdad, "The longer we wait, the more suspicious these scientists will get about us."

That came too soon as Fowler approached the two and interrupted them. "Excuse me, but what are you two doing here?" he demanded.

Mehrdad cringed as he realized they were caught. But calm and collective, he decided to play it coy and distract the former Army Ranger while his partner finished with the download. "Uh, new scientists," he replied. "Pulling up our task orders." He then showed his fake ID to Fowler to prove that they were _'working'_ for Lutece.

Fowler looks to the badge and was still a little cautious about those two. "Really?" he said looking to the screen, "Do you have access to that terminal over there?"

"Why yes, of course." Merhdad continued with a fake smile, "We were doing diagnostics to the system to see if there were flaws within the Tear. Gotta be safe." He then slowly put his hand into his white jacket, cautiously getting his sidearm in case things went downhill from there.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Miko and Sari went up to Raf and Dr. Lutece. "Elicia, do you know those two?" Sari asked the scientist. She looked at the MECH agents. "No! They don't belong here. Why are they at a workstation? That's restricted access."<p>

"Whatever they're doing, it's not good," said Miko. "I feel it in my mod."

"Your what?" said Lutece.

"Miko has a mod that alerts her to danger," explained Sari. "If they're spies, we need to shut down your external network immediately before it's too late."

"I'll contact the network engineers to shut the servers down." Lutece replied.

"That's not fast enough," said Sari, and put her servos on a keyboard. Her digits opened up and the prods exited, penetrating the keyboard. Her optics went from blue/white to all white. She entered the lab's network administration, examining all workstation's packet activity. She then immediately shut down all external accesses. Turning to Lutece, she said, "They had hacked into your private directories; an attempt was being made to connect to an external server, to transmit your _'Lutece Tear'_ schematics; I've cut off all accesses."

The scientist put up her hand to shield her eyes from Sari's bright white optics. "Thank you, Captain," she replied. Sari exited the system, her prods returned to her digits, and her optics went back to blue/white. "Sorry about my optics, they turn all-white when I'm entering a system."

"Fascinating," said Lutece.

* * *

><p>Back to the two agents, Aanan was just about finished with the download as Merhdad distracted Fowler. But before he could even complete it, the screen went berserk and a message appeared in front of his face. <em>"Connection terminated"<em> said the monitor on Aanan's workstation.

"Dammit!" he yelled, slamming his fist on the desk. "Someone found out about our plan and shut us down!"

Merhdad turned to him and was incredibly irate. "What?!" he said, "How can that be possible?! We were so close in getting that to our boss!"

The special agent looked to the two and could tell that they were working for someone. "You two had better come with me!" said Fowler, reaching for Aanan's arm.

"I don't think so!" yelled Mehrdad, taking out his concealed automatic weapon, and aimed it at the Unit:E agent.

"Watch out!" yelled Raf, rushing Mehrdad at lightning speed, and pushing Fowler out of the way just as the automatic weapon fired. Raf backhanded the weapon out of the MECH agent's hand, but not before several rounds hit one of the Lutece Tear consoles.

Raf and Mehrdad began a fierce hand-to-hand battle, while Aanan kept trying various terminals, seeing if he could gain access to the MECH server.

The fight began with Mehrdad laughing. "You? Fight me? This will be over quickl-" Raf shut him up with a powerful right hook to the MECH agent's jaw, sending him crashing over a chair. He got up quickly, rushing Raf. "Lucky hit, fool!" Lunging at Raf, he took out his SRK knife and attempted to slash his neck, but the Skystriker turned aside at the last second and grabbed Mehrdad's wrist, twisting it to dislocate the bones and make him drop the knife.

Mehrdad screamed from the pain in his wrist, but not before delivering a powerful kick with his knee to Raf's solar plexus. Raf staggered back, the wind knocked out of him. Mehrdad came at Raf, intending to deliver a roundhouse kick to his head, but spying a desk chair, Raf picked it up and used it to block the kick, which caused the MECH agent to spin back from the contact with the chair, knocking him off balance. Getting his strength back, Raf then attacked Mehrdad with Mueikyaku, an advanced technique featuring a series of rapid kicks, the last kick sending him flying backwards over several consoles. He got up, bleeding.

"Damn you!" yelled Mehrdad, but just then, Aanan grabbed him. "Forget about him Merhdad!" he said, "We've got to get out of here! This place is going to blow!" Merhdad turned to him and was about to argue back. But looking at the situation they're in, he decided to fight another day. And the two started to leave, Mehrdad limping away, assisted by his MECH partner, glaring at Raf, but puzzled by the capabilities of this opponent.

Raf started to pursue them, but Dr. Lutece yelled. "Raf! I need you!" Raf turned to the scientist and back to the two super soldiers leaving. Knowing that he will fight them again, he hurried to Lutece's side.

Back to Lutece, she, the Skystrikers, Fowler, and Ratchet were gathered at one of the consoles, trying to shut the Tear down. Raf then came in and checked to see if everything's okay.

"What's the situation?" the hacker asked.

Lutece turned to him and gave him a worried expression. "Not good. The damaged console is behaving erratically and overloading the power supply, with the panels reaching a critical state. If they overload…"

"Instant A-Bomb." Jack responded back, "I knew it. I knew this was bound to happen."

"Can you shut down the power supply?" Sari asked looking a little nervous.

"Yes I can." Lutece answered back, "But only if the panels are kept apart! They've already started to pull toward each other, straining the framing. Blame those bloody fools that shot at the console, which operates those panels. Looks like we have to do it manually if we are to stop this!"

Ratchet looked back at the Tear device and saw the panels starting to close in on each other. "I'll go in and align the panels." he said, looking confident.

But Lutece turned to him and said, "There are too many for you to work with! This has to be done with a small group if we are to place the panels properly."

Sari looked back to the device too and decided that it was now or never. Turning back, she told Lutece, "In that case, let the Skystrikers handle that!"

The others looked to her, shocked to hear those words coming out of her. "Are you crazy!?" Fowler said with the sound of surprise in his voice, "That machine is entering the meltdown stage! It's a suicide run!"

The captain turned to him and explained the situation. "It's the only shot we have left! Our armor can protect us from the energy field and with our combined strength can even out those panels. We can do this! You and Ratchet help evacuate the scientists around here, we'll shut the Tear down. Let's go, time is against us!"

Fowler was about to argue back, but knowing Sari, she doesn't take no for an answer. Turning to Ratchet, they both nodded and helped assist in evacuating the staff. "You heard the lady! Everybody out of the lab! Move it! Unless you want a front row seat at the biggest explosion known to man!" Quickly, everyone left the lab and got outside the buildings with Ratchet and Fowler close behind. Now everyone is gone with the exception of the Skystrikers and Elisa as the group got in front of the device while the professor was at the controls.

"The panels need to be separate and need to be in their proper place." Lutece said, "Once you got it all set up, I'll commence the emergency shutdown. Hurry! We don't have time!"

The group looked on as the electricity danced all over the area and the panels were getting much closer. As they were watching, Jack had something to say to his teacher.

"Hey Sensei?"

Sari looked over him and responded, "Yes Jack?"

"I hope you know what you're doing." he said back. "Can't have Arcee spark broken knowing that I got killed off by an explosion."

Sari laughed about it and knew that Arcee would have a fit if Jack got hurt. Getting serious, she told the team that it's time. "All right Skystrikers, transform!"

Immediately, Jack and Sari started to glow light blue while Miko glowed bright yellow and Raf activated his jetpack on his back. When the light faded, the three members were in their battle modes. Sari's armor was yellow like her dress and was covering her chest, legs, and arms with little metal wings on her back, a helmet with a mouth guard and prods that resembled her pigtails, and a blue orb centered on her chest.

Jack's armor was a combination of black and gray like his clothes with blue accents. His helm was similar to his bike helmet and smooth with a black mask covering his crystal blue optics and the bridge of his nose. He looked similar to Sari, but he's a little more masculine than in his human mode with a blue rigid-gray cover for his spark chamber.

And though Miko's main mode is that of a Predacon, she can use her human mode to equip the aspects of a humanoid Predacon with armor covering her Unit-E suit with the color combinations of black, pink, and purple, built in claws for hands and feet, a spiky tail swinging side to side, and small human like black and pink wings. Her helm lacked the mouth guard or mask, but it was similar to her hairstyle with horn like appendages that matched her pigtails and her optics glowing bright yellow.

Once they were suited for battle, Sari gave the orders. "Everybody split up! Get two panels and align them properly. We can't let them touch each other!"

They all nodded in unison as they flew up (Sari and Jack with the boosters on their feet, Miko spreading her wings, and Raf using his jetpack) and reached the Tear device. Once they got there, they each grabbed a part of the panels and used their combined strength to push them away from each other. Miko then saw one panel what was misplaced and extended her tail to grab hold of it, putting it in its proper place. Once they were finished, the panels were aligned and they were holding as much as they could.

"Panels are in place professor!" Sari screamed out loud, "Shut the machine down!"

Lutece turned back and saw that they have done a good job and went back to the console.

"On it."

She started to type the sequence down and a secret compartment opened up with a huge button that said _'Emergency Shutdown'_. Looking at that, she was about to press it until a warning message appeared on the screen. Looking at the screen, her eyes grew wide and she knew what it meant.

"Oh dear…" she said in a blank stare. Turning back to the machine, she could see a rippage in mid air, meaning a tear was about to open. But this one was more powerful than the last as she warned the others about it.

"A tear is opening!"

Just as she said that, the portal opened and started to make a sucking sound. Soon enough, anything that wasn't bolted down got pulled into the tear and disappeared. Elicia was holding on for dear life as chairs, desks, carts and paper flew in while the Skystrikers kept their ground, holding the panels in place, getting whip lashed by the force of the suction.

"Hang on!" Sari yelled, "Don't let go!"

The group continued to hold on, as the force grew stronger and stronger. Almost instantly, a while light appeared and bathed the team and they had to shut their eyes. They then started to scream as something happened behind the light before their screams faded completely. Lutece then managed to hold her own and looked down to the button to shut it down completely. Lifting her hand up, she threw it down and slammed on the button hard. In a matter of seconds, the light faded and the tear disappeared completely, leaving the lab a complete mess. The scientist got on her knees and took a heavy breather, knowing that it was over.

"Oh... dear... lord...," she said with each breath, "That… was… close…"

As soon as she said that, Fowler and Ratchet came through the door and saw the end result of a near catastrophe.

"Sweet Liberty!" Fowler said as he approached the downed scientist. "Ms. Lutece, are you all right? What happened?"

Elicia got up and dusted herself, explaining, "The device activated a random tear and was sucking everything within its radius. Fortunately we were able to align the panels and shut it down before it could reach critical."

Fowler nodded and took a breather, knowing that they managed to stop a huge meltdown. But then, he realized something and looked around.

"Skystrikers? Skystrikers! What happened to the Skystrikers?!" Yelled Fowler at the scientist.

Dr. Lutece looked up and told him about it. "They were at the device fixing the panels before I could shut it down. I didn't get a chance to see them until the tear opened up and…" Realization soon hit her as she turned to see her creation. So far the device was still intact with a few sparks dancing around the panels, but no Skystrikers present. "Oh no…" she said quietly as she ran to the console, frantically trying to retrieve the logs. "Oh no, no, no, no! This is bad. This is very bad!"

Ratchet looked to her and demanded answers. "What's bad? What's going on?!"

"The Skystrikers must've gotten sucked into the Tear while they were holding on to the panels. The logs indicate that they were taken to an uncharted dimension. I have no record of it."

And where, pray tell, could they be?" Fowler asked her as she responded in the most professional manner.

"That, Agent Fowler, is the question that will be left unanswered."

* * *

><p><strong>That's the end of chapter 2. I would like to give special props to FictionFan1024 in the plot of the second chapter and the action scene between Raf and Mehrdad. I of course add my own stuff as well and, yes, this writing style is much different then the ones I do. But hey, it is what it is. Perhaps this will bring attention to the readers. But it's still a great chapter. Just wait and see what I have in store for the next, where the Skystrikers enter the sky city of Columbia. Please Review.<strong>


	3. Columbia

**Got chapter 3 taken care of and updated. So far, it was certainly quite the experience. Collaborating with FictionFan is a bit of rough one since he types a bit and add a few things and I need to type a lot. And with the other stories I got to do, it's a complicated matter. Thank goodness that I had a break in between classes and gives me the time to continue with my work. I just hope the next chapter won't be a problem. After all, I haven't gotten to the good stuff yet and it will all be in the next chapter. This one will be a little slow going, but it shall be a build up to the next, you will see. Now the last chapter was the usual. One little review and the hit counter is up to 117, preferably the same number as Master Chief's Spartan code. So yeah, not so much of a response. At least there are those that are reading. Will continue as much as I could. I hope the next one will leave people interested. Now on the next chapter, the Skystrikers enter Columbia and are trying to find a way in blending in and a way out. Unfortunately, they don't know about the truth behind this city and the trouble they would cause.**

**Chapter Notes**

**A few key parts were done by FictionFan1024 from the clothes to the interview between Fowler and Dr. Elicia Lutece. He did a bit of editing too while I was writing. There's also a scene I took from Men in Black 3 (A.K.A. the cash grab they put to make more money out of a franchise that's already stale). I'm certain you know the scene I was talking about.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers or Bioshock Infinite.**

* * *

><p>Chapter Three: Columbia<p>

Booker Dewitt's POV

Okay. I've been to my share of strange things in my day, but this one really takes the cake. My job was to bring this girl to a client so I can get paid. At first, I thought I was supposed to get her from this strange lighthouse off the coast of Maine. That wasn't the case though, as I found out that this lighthouse is some sort of hub that launched me in a rocket up to the sky. Still, that wasn't the only thing that was shocking. What was shocking about it was that I saw something that was completely impossible. What I saw was a city floating through the clouds. It's nothing I've seen in my life. I never would have imagined what I'd see next. Maybe a city at the bottom of the ocean. Hmph… That would be ridiculous.

Once I entered this city, I looked for a few key things I would need to familiarize myself before I searched for this girl. For one, this city that is called Columbia has some leader that goes by the name of Zachary Hale Comstock. He is what people around here call a prophet that can see into the future. Sounds like a complete wacko if you ask me. He seems to be a family man as well, as he has a wife the people call Lady Comstock, and a daughter that is known as the Lamb of the City, or the seed, or whatever type of religious jargon you can nickname a child. The strangest part is that while I was journeying through the streets, there was some kind of parades passing by that says that Comstock was victorious at Wounded Knee. First of all, I never heard of that name in where I was. And secondly, Wounded Knee didn't count as much as a victory in my own eyes.

Then there's the people around here. They look like the everyday folks I see all over New York, but they seem to have gotten caught up in the bull shit this prophet is saying. They seem to be the worshiping kind as they believe that Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin are gods that created America. To be fair, they did make America what it is today, but I don't think they would be counted as gods themselves. Even when I entered the city, the Welcoming Center seemed to be some form of church to worship him and his family. Hell, when I tried to get passage into the city, I had to accept baptism by this blind priest. Now I don't really want to do this, since I know that it never works for men like me. But given that this was a mandatory thing, I had no choice in the matter. Still, that dumb priest needs to learn the difference between baptizing a man and drowning him.

Another thing I learned in this city was that not all the people are as friendly as I thought. I've been hearing whispers about a group known as the Vox Populi, which if I remember correctly it meant, _'Voice of the People'_. My guess is that they must be some form of revolutionaries that don't believe in Comstock's perfect society. The others around here call them anarchists, but I don't think they ever seen them before. I mean I don't see them either so I can't be the judge of that. Still, looking into the town, there is something off about this place. Can't put my finger on it, but it seems that Columbia is lacking other individuals of different ethnicities. Maybe it's just me, but I got a sick feeling that there's a dark secret within this place that could be connected to the Vox.

Lastly, I came across what appears to be a poster with a message. It says, _'The False Shepherd seeks to lead our Lamb astray.'_ False Shepherd? Does Comstock have an enemy of his own? Either way, this guy could be dangerous. Better keep an eye on things just in case.

There is of course one more thing that's been bothering me lately. While I was being _'baptized'_ I had some strange fever dream. I was looking at New York, but it isn't the New York that I know. This New York was bigger than I could imagine. This New York was also on fire as I saw Columbia in the sky, setting the place ablaze. What in the world does that mean? Guess it could be a vision of some kind, yet I don't think it's what my own eyes would see. Doesn't matter though, I need to focus on the task ahead.

Walking over the arch, I could see it in the distance. The statue of the very same woman with angel wings I saw the moment I came to the city.

"Yeah, that's where they said I'd find her."

Digging my hand into my jacket, I took out a postcard to examine it. The picture matches the statue out there with the title, _'Monument Island'_ on the top. Now I've been seeing these propaganda posters dotted here and there that says that the girl is in there. Seems like a strange place to put her in. Wonder why?

"Telegram? Mr. Dewitt."

"Huh…"

That broke my train of thought. I looked down and saw a young tyke holding a telegram of some kind. Might be a messenger boy delivering me a letter. Who sent him though? He then shoved the letter to my face and said that it's for me.

"Telegram for you sir."

Out of curiosity, I took the letter from his hand and dug into my pocket to take a silver coin, or Silver Eagle as these folks around here says it.

"Here you go kid. Go get yourself something sweet."

I flip the coin to him and he caught it with one hand. Looking at it, he looked and gave me a quick salute before scampering off. Once he was gone, I looked at the telegram and read it out loud.

"Dewitt STOP. Do not alert Comstock to your presence STOP. Whatever you do, do not pick #77 STOP. Lutece. What the?"

That's an odd message. What does that mean? And who is this Lutece person? Either way, I'm at my objective. Now to find a way of getting there. Turning to the right, I could see a path right next to a fair of some kind. Wonder if I can take that direction?

* * *

><p>Within what appears to be a storage area filled with wooden boxes, everything was quiet, as no human was present. Only dim bulbs, bathing the area in lights. Just then, the lights started to flicker as electricity danced across the area until it all centered around one spot. Almost instantly, a huge tear opened up and blew a forceful wind out of it, sending crates down and getting chairs, desks, and papers out of the tear and hitting everything while papers blew all over the place. Just then, four individuals came out of the tear and crashed right through a couple of crates before the tear closed off completely and left the place in a dead silence. Just then, in seconds, the four people came out of the hay-like fillers in a daze. Three of them were wearing alien-like armor, the other wore battle armor, and one in particular had a pair of dragon wings and a spiky tail at the end. Those four were the Skystrikers (Sari, Jack, Miko, and Raf), who had gotten caught in Elicia's tear and were sucked into a random dimension. The group felt a little groggy as Sari lowered her mouth guard and revealed her human face.<p>

"Everyone all right?" she asked, a little loopy.

Jack got himself up to reveal his own face, changing it back to human.

"I think so…" he responded a little weakly. "I feel a little bit dazed and some form of emptiness in my chest. Other than that, I'm good. That was a bit of a rush."

"Tell me about it." Miko said back as she felt stiff in her Predacon joints. "Sure as Hell never going through that again."

Jack turned to her and smiled back saying, "You and me both Miko, no way I'm doing that risky move in my life."

The Predacon hybrid turned to him and smiled back, knowing that he's in agreement for once. But then, she noticed something on his face and told him about it. "Uh… Jack? Don't look now, but I think you're nose is bleeding."

Jack raised an eyebrow and said to her, "Wha…?" Placing his digits above his lip, he saw fresh Energon covering his tips, oozing down. Seeing this, he looked to the others and realized the same thing. "I'm not the only one that's having it, you guys have it too."

Both girls turned to him to see if he was right. Turns out, he was, as they checked their upper lips and experienced the same thing. "Whoa… Now that's freaky." Miko said in pure confusion as the Captain nodded in agreement. Looking around, Sari noticed that someone else was missing. Turning to the others, she said, "Hey, where's Raf?"

The two looked to their captain and were about to open their mouths until they heard a familiar voice coming out of the wreckage. "Present…" They all soon turned to him and saw the super soldier recovering from the experience too, placing one hand on a wooden crate while whipping his sleeve off his nose. Seeing the blood from his battle armor, he looked up to the others and told them, "I think we're experiencing the side effects Lutece told us when she was using monkeys for testing. The dizziness and the running nosebleed were two of them."

Sari listened and realized something else. "And the other one was the memory alterations." she said as she told Jack and Miko what to do. "Check your memory banks. See if there are any changes in them." Quickly the three accessed their memory banks in their processors to see if there were any alterations. After a quick skim, they all breathed a sigh in relief.

"My memories are intact." Jack said.

"Ditto with me." Miko followed.

"Same here." Sari said as she turned to Raf, "What about you Raf? Any changes?"

Rubbing his head, Raf remembered a few important factors from the first time he met Bumblebee, the time where he got injured in the hands of Megatron, and the day he was captured by MECH. Turning to the others, he told them the good news. "I seem to be all right. At least my memories didn't get wiped out like the time Levichev turned me into his first super soldier."

"Good." the Captain said, "That means that we are in the clear. Thank the AllSpark."

They all took a deep breath and were glad that they didn't get their memories changed in anyway. But after that breather, Miko realized something and told the others about it. "Wait a sec. We got dizzy and had our noses bleeding. If we succumbed to the side effects, then that means…"

Sari turned to her and finished what she was saying. "It means that we have stumbled into another dimension. Elicia's device must've opened a tear while we were stabilizing the panels and we got sucked in."

"Great…" Jack said with his arms out to the sides, "We are now in a random dimension we don't know about. That could explain why I can't sense Arcee's presence in my Spark." He started to rub his chest plate painfully, knowing that if he stumbled across another dimension, that the link between him and Arcee would be temporarily severed.

"It does seem that way." Sari responded with her own question, "But what I want to know is, where are we?"

To that, Raf activated his on board computer and checked to see where they are. Shaking his head, he said, "More like when. The computer can't give us an exact location, but it gave us the date we're in. Says here it's July the 6th, 1912."

The others looked at him in a state of shock as Miko was bewildered. "1912? That's around a century in the past! Scrap, I'm stuck in a time where metal and Miku don't exist. This blows…"

"Everyone calm down." the captain told them, "I don't think this is a complete loss. Remember what Ratchet said, there's a slight chance that there could be Autobots in this dimension. I'll use my Cyber-Ninja training to reach any Cybertronian within the vicinity." She then got into Lotus position and began to use her Cyber-Ninja skills to try and contact any other Autobots.

While she was doing that, Jack and the others decided to do something else.

"You go ahead and do that Sensei." he said, "We'll investigate the area. See where we are and how we can survive."

Soon enough, the three went on ahead and checked to see where to start. Raf though pointed to the closed window of the strange warehouse and said, "Let's check the windows, maybe give us a clear indication of our destination." So the three headed to the window as Raf used his superhuman strength to remove the locking mechanism that was keeping the window closed. As he was doing that, Miko was still in a fit.

"I can't believe it." she griped, "Of all the places we would've gotten to, we get to be someplace that's 110% boring and annoying. This day couldn't get any worse."

Jack turned to the pissed off Predacon hybrid and said, "Easy there, Miko. I know you're just as upset as everyone else. But look on the bright side. We get to live an actual history lesson. It might not all be that bad."

Just as he said that, Raf finally managed to pry the lock off and open the window. Upon doing so, he saw a place that was completely impossible. "Uh, guys?" he said a little speechless, "I think you ought to see this." The two looked to their friend and wondered what he wanted them to see. Curious, they approached the window he was at and took a quick peek. What they saw was something they they didn't think would exist.

What they were seeing was a city filled with buildings from the 1900s. But these buildings were actually floating in midair, over clouds and soaring to the sky. Huge blimps were traveling from left and right along with some small platform ships navigating throughout the town. But in the back was a huge statue of a young woman with angel wings on her back, welcoming people with open arms. The three looked on, amazed that a city like that could even exist. "Whoa…" Jack said with his mouth a bit agape. Miko though had a slight smirk and said to the Technorganic, "You're right, it's not going to be that bad."

Just then, a lone newspaper flew through the window and landed right on Miko's face. She was in a panic as she waved her arms in surprise. "Eep! Get it off! Get it off!"

Jack though had the good sense to approach the panicked Predacon hybrid and snatch the paper from her face, blinking her dragon like optics out of confusion. "Oh Miko…" he said, "You should really be aware of what's coming at you."

She turned to him and explained her panic state. "I was aware! It just caught me by surprise."

Rolling his eyes around, he looked at the front page of the newspaper to get an idea of where they were. That's when he saw a huge title at the top that said, _'Columbia Celebrates!'_ Looking at it, he began to put it all together. "Columbia, huh?" he asked himself, "So that's what this strange city is called." He looked to the other two and said, "We'd better get back to the captain and let her know what we found." Raf and Miko nodded as they headed back to Sari's position.

Jack, Raf and Miko returned back to where Sari was in meditation. When they were near her, Jack said, "Well Sensei? Anything?" She opened her eyes and told her what she was found. "The strangest thing," she began, "there is a Cybertronian here in this dimension, but I can't detect any Spark from this planet."

"Maybe Cybertron hasn't discovered this planet yet." Miko responded, "I mean this is 1912 after all and I don't think that they have created vehicles suitable for them yet."

Sari turned to her and said, "Perhaps Miko, but we still need to be sure." She then turned to Raf and told him to assist in the matter. "Raf, see if you can put out an SOS to Cybertron. If we're lucky, they might pick it up and bridge us out of here."

Nodding, the super soldier went back to his onboard computer and started to administer the SOS message. But just as he was doing that, he picked something up that wasn't possible. "That's odd…" he said, "I'm picking up a faint distress signal in this town, yet I can't calculate where it's taking place."

"Autobots?" Sari asked.

Turning to her, he said back, "That's the strangest thing. I'm picking up distress signals from Autobots, but also distress signals from the Decepticons."

The group looked to him strangely and thought that he was crazy. "A distress signal coming from both factions?" Jack asked, "That's weird."

Miko then replied, "Yeah. Those two are sworn enemies from each other. Why would the two need to send a distress for us to find?"

Rubbing her chin, Sari could tell that this was completely off. "This doesn't add up. I can't pick up any Spark in the planet, yet there's a distress from both factions nearby. Whatever's going on here cannot be good. We probably should start exploring this place, get in touch with the locals, and see if there is a way out of here."

"Well, Sensei," said Jack with a bit of concern, "you're not going to believe what it looks like. Raf, Miko, and I checked the windows to get a good look and discovered that this city actually floating in the clouds and is called Columbia."

Sari look to him and raised an eyebrow. "A city floating in the sky? That's impossible."

Raf then turned to her and told her that it was the truth. "Believe me when I say this ma'am, that's what we saw and someone made it possible. Also, I've taken the liberty of observing the streets and noticed that it's filled with people that have attire that is old fashioned."

"Urgh, we can't go out dressed like this," said Miko looking down to her jumpsuit.

Jack looked around the building. "We're in a warehouse; perhaps one or more of these storage areas contain clothing."

"Steal merchandise?" His Sensei gave him a frown.

"Either that or walk around like this and stick out like a sore thumb. Take your pick."

Sari sighed. "Very well… We leave a note apologizing, and promise remuneration."

Miko gave her a _"For real?"_ look. "Oh, sure; _'Hi, we're the Skystrikers. Do you take cash, check, or credit card?'_"

"I'm serious, Miko," she replied before turning to the other two. "Jack, Raf, check the rooms in storage. Find anything that contains clothing for us to wear."

Jack and Raf nodded and went further into the warehouse, going from door to door to see if any of the various storage rooms contained clothing. In _"bot"_ mode, Jack used his X-ray vision to look through the doors, while Raf studied the manifests. "Room 32 is owned by Smith's Haberdashery", said Raf, "that sounds promising."

Jack scanned the room. "Looks like just men's clothing. New, though even by its time. Better keep looking for clothing for Miko and Sensei," he told the super-soldier.

"Hmm. Here's one. Madam Worthington's Millinery. Room 48."

Jack checked it out. "Yep, women's clothing. Fancy stuff."

"Alright, let's report back," said Raf.

The two returned to Sari and Miko to let them know about the storage rooms with new clothing.

"Captain." Raf said as he got their attention.

"What did you find?" Sari said with anticipation.

"We found two rooms that's filled with clothing for us to wear." the super soldier continued, "One is Room 32 filled with men's clothes and the other is room 48 that has women's attire."

The captain nodded and liked what she was hearing. "Excellent work you two. Let's go in and find something suitable for us."

The group then returned to the hallway to get the clothes they need. Going first to room 32, Raf was going to break the lock when Sari stopped him. "That's not necessary."

"Captain?"

She stepped up to the door, and using Processor-Over-Matter, caused the cylinders to release the lock. She then turned the knob to open the door. "Once you two are done finding appropriate clothing, I'll secure the lock again." And Jack and Raf stepped in and looked through the boxes. Jack chose a dark blue suit with a white waistcoat and dotted necktie. Raf picked out a black suit with a similar design. Both picked out headwear from the selection of gray Homburg hats in another area of the room.

Sari composed a letter to both owners, apologizing for taking the clothes. "Please be assured," she concluded the letter, "we will reimburse your business accordingly,"

"Alright Miko, now it's our turn," said Captain Sari. They entered Madam Worthington's storage room while the men waited down the hall. Miko was definitely not impressed! "What the heck is this thing?!" she yelled, holding up a lady's corset. As usual, her voice carried well outside the room to Jack's and Raf's ears. The two looked at each other. "I...don't want to know," said Raf.

After much patient coaxing from Sari, Miko put on the period clothing. Copying pictures found in the storage room, Sari took out all of her scrungies and styled her hair, pulling everything up into a _"Gibson Girl"_ bun. Miko however didn't want to get rid of her precious hair style and had to find an alternative way of hiding her look. Spotting a fancy bonnet with a fake flower on the side, she took it and placed it on her head to cover up her pigtails. Outfit completed, the Predacon teen placed her contacts over her yellow eyes and walked over to a floor-length mirror to examine the results. Her face went from frowns to sheer disgust. "Ugh!" complained Miko, "this looks stupid!"

Sari turned and said, "Better than walking around in a skin-tight jumpsuit. Just try not to go Predacon."

Finally, the two walked out, similarly dressed in floor-length dark colored trumpet-skirts and frilly white shirtwaist blouses. The boys looked at the two and were trying to contain the laughter when they saw Miko looking quite elegant in her attire.

"Took a while," commented Jack, smirking.

"Tell me about it." Raf continued, "You look quite radiant today, Miko. Your parents would be so proud of you."

The two then couldn't help but burst out in laughter as the Predacon hybrid was getting annoyed by all of this.

"Hey!" she complained. "I'd like to see you put this stuff on! And button these ridiculous things!" She pulled up her skirt and pointed to her pointed, buttoned-down shoes.

"All right boys, settle down." Sari said, trying to calm things down before Miko goes into a fiery fit. "We're now dressed properly for the city. Now what we need to do is to go out into the streets and blend in. Let's find an exit and get out of here."

Nodding in agreement, the group left the storage area and started looking for an exit.

* * *

><p>Back in the Prime reality, Fowler took Lutece to a nearby conference room and shut the door. "Alright, Lutece, what happened? Where are the Skystrikers?"<p>

She straightened her hair and cleared her throat. "Well," she began, "It's rather obvious. There was a surge in the power stream which caused an overload to the rare elements. This opened a tear, and..."

He angrily interrupted her. "Where are they?"

Unaccustomed to the abrupt tone, she got caught off guard. "I, well, the logs, they..."

"They...what?" He looked directly at her sternly.

"They don't say! I mean, there is no indication of where they might have gone! Agent Fowler, there are billions of uncharted dimensions in which they could have landed."

"Well I suggest you and your staff start repairing that device and begin looking!" He slammed his palm on the table. "Dammit! Do you have any idea how valuable the Skystrikers are to Unit:E? They have been able to help us through some tough times. They need to be found at once!"

"With all due respect Agent, this isn't going to be an eady feat. Even if I could fix my tear device, it could take years to find them!"

"Then you'd better get started!" And shoving his chair away from the table, Fowler got up and stormed out of the conference room. Shaking, Dr. Lutece got up and returned to her damaged lab to begin repairing the damage.

* * *

><p>Back to Fowler, he entered his office and took a seat on the desk, rubbing the temples of his head. "Oh man… What a day…" he said feeling a little overwhelmed.<p>

Just then, he got a conference call that was on hold on the computer as it was blinking and beeping. Clicking on the conference icon, a video window opened up showing Major Path Finder, Security Chief of Skybolt.

"Major," Fowler said with a bit of a blank sound in his voice, "Didn't think I hear from you."

"_Likewise Fowler,"_ Finder responded, _"Though given the situation we're in right now, it's a good time to speak to you about the matter at hand."_

"Tell me if you know who broke into the science building and tried to take the schematics for Lutece's device." Fowler asked.

"_Not much so far…"_ the security chief said, _"However I did find something strange about those two."_

"Please go on…" The agent said looking interested.

"_Well, given your encounter with one of them, the hacking ability of the other, and the fighting skills he performed against Mr. Esquivez, my assumption is that they must be super soldiers similar to Rafael when he was taken by MECH to turn into a super soldier as well."_

"So you're saying that MECH have created two more super soldiers out of children?" Fowler asked with a bit of shock.

"_That and more sir."_ the major said, _"I've been looking over missing children's reports after the incident and discovered that six children at the age of twelve were reported missing. Reports came from Central America, Middle East, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, China, and the Horn of Africa, all of which happened around the same time. It's obvious that this organization is forming a team of super soldiers with a serum that's more improved than the one they used on the first."_

Listening to that, Fowler came to a quick conclusion. "That means MECH has six super soldiers at their disposal. If the TechnoCons aren't bad enough, we've now got a group of super soldiers that can strike at any moment. This sure as hell complicates things."

"_Right now, Terrorcons and super soldiers are the least of our worries."_ the head of security retorted, _"Our main focus is getting the Skystrikers back from whatever dimension they are in. Any luck on that?"_

Fowler gave a deep sigh and told her the bad news. "Nothing so far. Ms. Lutece told me that the Tear malfunction sucked the team into a random uncharted dimension. She doesn't have it in her logs and it would take some time to get them back. Probably years, she said. Even if we were able to find them, it could prove impossible in getting them back without another Tear device present or any form of communication on the other end."

The major listened in and could tell that this was bad. _"That's not good."_ she said, _"Given what's been going on, it will be very difficult in bringing them back. Meanwhile, I've got Autobots from Sari's dimension and our own asking questions as to their whereabouts, along with the family of Jack, Raf, and Miko wondering about their kids. I can't share them the news that we cannot find them."_

"Then it's best you start making those uncomfortable phone calls, Major." Fowler said with seriousness in his voice, "Until we have a lead, that's what we all know so far. I suggest you gather them at Omega One to give them the news. I'll be there for assistance if you need any. Either way, I just hope the team is safe. The last thing I want is to have the Skystrikers entering hostile territory, or worse…"

Finder nodded and understood the situation they were in. _"I'm certain that they are safe, Fowler."_ she said, _"They've been through tough spots before. Surely they know what to do under situations like this. They can take care of themselves until we can find them. Major, out."_

The window then automatically closed off the conference call. As soon as the call ended, Fowler sat back and knew that wasn't the case. "That's what I'm afraid of." he said to himself.

* * *

><p>Back in the Columbia universe, in an alleyway near the warehouse, everything was completely quiet. At the side door of this warehouse, the lock started to shake as it started to snap and fall to the floor very strangely. As the door opened, Sari peeked her head out and looked both ways across the alleyway. Seeing that it was empty, she looked back and said, "All right, we're in the clear."<p>

She then opened the door fully and walked out with her new set of clothes. Jack and Raf soon followed with their own outfits feeling a little confident that they can blend in with the crowd. Miko on the other hand… "Ow… Ow… Ow…" She was taking a few short steps through the door and could feel her feet getting sore from walking in her pointed buttoned boots. Taking a deep breather, she was getting extremely uncomfortable by all of this. "How these girls walked around in these shoes, I have no idea." she said cringing from the pain.

Sari could tell that she's a little uncomfortable and said, "Well I'm wearing these shoes, and I'm not complaining. Give it an hour and it would seem natural. Now let's stick to the task at hand. Raf, can you pinpoint the distress signals?"

Rolling up his sleeve, he opened his onboard computer and checked again. "It's hard to tell," he said, "Giving the height this city is floating, it's mostly static. But I could tell that it's around this city. If we can keep walking, maybe we might get closer." He closed off his computer and rolled his sleeve back down.

Sari nodded and responded, "Very well. We still need to familiarize ourselves with this city. Everyone keep a low profile and maybe we might be able to get out of this."

Soon enough, the group walked down the alley and reached the end where a light was seen at a distance. Once they left the alley, they entered the main street of the city and marveled at the sights. The buildings were elegantly designed and had an old fashioned feel to them. They saw a railway over their heads as freight cars passed by while suspended in the air, traveling to unknown locations. Looking at the view, they could see the statue of the woman with angel wings, but other things as well. There were buildings floating separate from the main streets, huge Zeppelins making a slow journey, and floating gondolas transporting people from one area to the other. They even saw fireworks blasting through the sky and church bells ringing as the city was celebrating some kind of occasion. Out on the streets, the people were vibrant and were having a good time, giving each other quiet conversations and, on some occasion, guys hitting on women. They saw little kids playing a variety of games, splashing around a fire hydrant, and playing with toys, all of which kids usually did in the 1900s. The team could even see a cart being pulled by a mechanical horse, something futuristic at the time. As the group was walking by, they were amazed by it all.

"Wow…" Jack said in pure astonishment, "Look at this place. This is quite a feat; I'm stunned."

"You and me both Jack," Raf responded, "This sort of reminds me of Main Street U.S.A. when my family went to Disneyland every year, but this is a hundred times bigger than I would imagine."

As they were walking, Miko noticed a poster of some kind on the wall. It portrayed a man who looked to be a little old for his age with white hair going down his neck and a white beard. Looking at it, she was very curious. "Who's that guy?" she asked, "Santa Claus's twin brother?"

Sari saw this person too and wondered who he was as well. But there was a message in between the person as it said, _'Father Comstock: Our Prophet'. _Reading it, she said, "Says that his name is Comstock. My guess is that he's the person in charge of Columbia."

"Then what's with the whole prophet thing." Jack asked.

"It could mean that he's very religious." the captain continued, "There are always those who believe in a higher calling to life. This Comstock must believe in something holy and by the looks of it, has quite a following of sorts."

Miko rolled her eyes around and said, "Great… This is just what we needed. A leader with a god complex. Certainly reminds me of a certain warlord."

As they were walking, Jack overheard something with his highly sensitive audio receptors as two men were reading the newspaper.

"Did you read this? Says Daisy sent a small band of those Vox rebels to smuggle weapons from the Columbia Authority's armory. When will those bastards learn?"

"It seems they're desperate in getting what they need. If picket signs and rallies aren't enough, they have to stick with armaments and war mongering."

"The worst part is that they started to strike today of all days. Security during this time is a little lax and Comstock's men are spread thin to watch over the festivities."

"Damn those Vox Populi! Comstock must act now before all Hell breaks loose."

"I'm certain he's already working on the plan. He is the bearer of the sword after all."

After hearing all of this, Jack turned to his Sensei and asked her about it.

"Sensei," he started, "Did you hear that?"

Sari turned to him and nodded. "Sure did. Sounds like this city has an issue with a small group of terrorists. We better watch our backs."

Miko heard that too and was a little confused. "Um… What does Vox Populi mean?" she asked.

Sari turned to her and answered, "It's Latin. It means Voice of the People. Must be some form of revolutionaries that don't believe in this Comstock's beliefs. We better keep a watchful eye. They could mean trouble around here."

As they were walking, Raf thought of something and told the others. "Hey guys, exactly how are we going to get out of this city? Do we even have a plan for getting back to our own dimension?"

Sari looked to the super soldier and said, "I'm certain that Elicia is working hard on finding a way of getting us back home, Raf. We just need to adjust to this world until she can pull through."

"That could be a problem, Sensei." Jack said with a little worry, "That tear we went through was pretty much a one-way trip and without another one, we're stuck in this place for a while. I don't think she even has a way of communicating with us."

Sari rubbed her chin and realized he was right. "You're probably right, Jack. If we can't get help on the other end, we should seek help around here. Let's start with finding a main directory of some kind that can take us to the local authorities."

"And what should we tell them?" Miko asked, "That we're the Skystrikers and we came from another dimension? I'm sure that will work out just fine."

The captain turned to her and said, "We'll just say that we're lost. That will gain their trust with us. Now, where to start?"

She started to look around to see if there were any officers around the area. So far, the only thing she saw were civilians left and right. She then thought that she could get help from the people here. Approaching two males and a female, mostly some guy telling a woman to date his friend, she started to ask them for help.

"Excuse me. Sorry if I'm interrupting but my friends and I are new here and are little lost. Can you tell us where we can find a police station around here?"

The three turned to Sari and were about to say something. But the moment they saw her, they kept their mouths shut, gave her a cold look, and walked away. Sari looked on and was a little confused about this. "That's weird…" she spoke to herself, "I've never seen people ignore me before."

Miko saw this and was curious about this as well. Looking at a family of two children, she approached them and asked for help as well.

"Hi there. You guys want to take a minute of your time to help us?"

The family turned to her and noticed something off about her. Seeing her, they ignored her and walked away with the mother and father whispering to each other. The Predacon hybrid saw this and was surprised that they didn't want to speak to her. "Okay…" she said, "They are certainly a friendly bunch."

Jack approached her and said, "Maybe it's because we're new around here and they aren't familiar with strangers. I'm certain that in a few days they will warm up to us."

Sari then approached her student and told him, "But when I was with dad at those world meetings at a young age, people warmly greeted me. This place acts differently around Miko and I. Almost like they hate us for some reason."

Jack turned to his Sensei and said, "I'm sure they have their reasons."

As they were talking, Raf looked on and noticed something wasn't right. He didn't think that people would ignore the girls like they were strangers within this strange town. Also, there was something off about this place. He couldn't figure it out yet, but it seems like it's missing some other minorities within the group. But they have just entered the town so they he didn't see any yet. Still, it's just strange he didn't see any at all. He wondered…

"Hey Raf!" That caught him by surprise as he turned to see Miko trying to get his attention. "Let's go! We still have a lot of ground to cover." Raf sighed and decided to save his assumption for later. "All right, coming!" So he caught up with the others and the group continued to journey through Columbia. What none of them realized was that the family Miko had talked to was speaking to two police officers about the girl.

* * *

><p>After fifteen minutes of walking, the group continued to walk down the street trying to get some help. Still, there were people that ignored them, giving suspicious looks at the two girls. As they were walking, Miko was getting a little annoyed about all of it.<p>

"Sigh… Is it me or are these people not too thrilled to see us?" she asked.

"Could be nothing Miko." Jack responded, "Being new could mean that people could be hesitant. Remember when you came to Jasper Memorial High School when you were an exchange student?"

The Predacon hybrid rolled her eyes around and groaned to herself. "Yes, I remember about that. I also remember Vince trying to hit on me on the first day. Gave him a kick in the balls and got a detention slip."

The two laughed it up as Sari told them to focus.

"Enough you two." she said in a motherly tone, "We still need to find some help and a way back to our home."

The two turned to the captain and responded at the same time.

"Yes Sensei", the Gakusei responded.

"Yes headmistress." Miko said with a bit of annoyance in her voice.

As they were walking, they approached a nearby bench with some kind of fountain with four statues behind it. Three of them at the top of the waterfall like fountain looked like the founding fathers of America (Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin) all decked out in Roman tunics and holding three golden objects representing the key aspects of their success. Washington was holding the sword, Franklin holding a key, and Jefferson holding the scroll. As the base of the fountain was Comstock himself on one knee, being offered the golden objects by the founding fathers. Miko looked to this and was a little disturbed by it.

"Looks like this Comstock guy thinks Washington and his pals are some forms of angels or something." she said with a look to awkwardness, "The guy really is full of himself."

Sari looked at it too and noticed a plaque on the edge of the fountain. Approaching it, she said out loud. "After the victory at Wounded Knee, the Prophet was given the tools of the Founding Fathers to build Columbia. This is pretty weird."

Raf approached her and rubbed his chin. "Wounded Knee?" he said to himself. "How could he call that a victory?"

"Come again?" Miko asked in confusion.

Raf turned to her and explained about it. "On December 29th, 1890, The 7th Cavalry platoon marched into Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation near Wounded Knee Creek to disarm the Indians. No one knows how it happened, but one source claimed that a deaf tribesman named Black Coyote was reluctant to give up his rifle, claiming he had paid a lot for it. A scuffle over Black Coyote's rifle escalated and a shot was fired which resulted in the 7th Cavalries' opening fire indiscriminately from all sides, killing men, women, and children, as well as some of their own fellow soldiers. The Lakota warriors who still had weapons began shooting back at the attacking soldiers, who quickly suppressed the Lakota fire. The surviving Lakota fled, but U.S. cavalrymen pursued and killed many who were unarmed. In a matter of hours, what was once supposed to be a simple disarmament turned into a brutal massacre."

The Predacon hybrid started to get bored by it and complained, "Urgh… Why are we talking about history at this time?"

"Don't you get it Miko?" he continued, "Wounded Knee was a tragedy that would be remembered in American history. Yet Comstock said that it was victory and he was deemed a hero. How can he say that when innocent lives were lost?"

Jack looked on and thought of something. "Maybe it's his own side of the story. I mean you said it yourself Raf, we don't know much about what really happened at Wounded Knee. Perhaps the Indians attacked first and the 7th Cavalry had no choice but to fight back."

Sari rubbed her chin and found that to be a bit off. "Maybe… Maybe not…" she said out of curiosity, "But if Comstock is lying about Wounded Knee and made these people believe in this, then it could mean that this person isn't much of a prophet people claim to be."

As they were talking, Miko started to get worn out and decided to take a seat on the bench. "Well I don't know about you guys, but I'm tired and hungry." she said in an annoying voice, "And all this walking with these shoes ain't helping much."

The others looked to her and realized that she did have a point. They had been walking for quite a while and hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. Knowing that they needed a break, Jack thought of something and told them what he was going to do.

"There was a hotdog stand that we passed by." he said, "I'll go get us some food. You guys just wait for me here until I get back."

"Make it quick my Gakusei," Sari said as she took her seat, "We've still got a lot of ground to cover."

"Yes, Sensei." he said as he left them and headed to the hotdog stand. Yet none of them realized that real trouble was about to brew.

* * *

><p>"Hotdogs! Hotdogs! Alexander Hotdogs! Get your hotdogs here! We got hotdogs for the boys, hotdogs for the girls, hotdogs for anyone young and old! Hey there little cutie. What's more red white and blue then some of the finest hotdogs in all of Columbia? Get them while they're hot!"<p>

The stand owner was telling everyone to buy his hotdogs as people started to pass on by. So far he made good enough sales with his stuff, but he still needed to gather up some more customers for the celebration. He'd hoped that someone would come by and purchase his stuff. As luck would have it, he heard a voice in the distance.

"Excuse me!"

He turned around just to see Jack approaching him and could tell that he needed some food. Leaning on the stand, he did his proper greeting.

"Good afternoon to you too, sir. What can I do for you?"

Jack looked at the options and could tell that there wasn't much. But this is 1912 and there's no fast food chain yet so he had to get what they could eat. Looking at the stand owner, he said, "Let me get four hotdogs and four sodas for me and my friends."

"Do you want any condiments on your dogs?" the stand owner replied.

Jack gave it a little thought and said, "Do you happen to have any chili? One of my friends has a knack for something a little spicy."

The stand owner looked at him strangely and was a little skeptical about that. "Uh, no." he said, "But I do have some spicy mustard if this friend of yours is interested."

"Yeah, yeah, that's good enough." he said in delight, "Just get two with ketchup and two with mustard. Make sure that one of them is smothered all over for my friend."

He looked at him strangely and never heard of such a request before. But he ignored it and started working on making the hotdogs for him. "Never heard of someone who had a thing with eating foods that is hot." he said as he continued making the food, "Sounds like your friend has been drinking too much Devil's Kiss as of late."

Jack heard this and was a little confused by what he meant by that. Yet he played along and said, "Yeah… You could say that."

As he was waiting, he heard some bells ringing as a gondola floating high in the air without any cables or wires. On this gondola, a group of barbershop quartets were singing something with a billboard over them that said, _'God Only Knows'_. Half the people at the little grassy alcove and watching the show while the rest were dancing to it. Jack listened to it and was enjoying it as well. But as he was hearing it, something wasn't right about it. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it seemed like he heard it before. His father had a thing with listening to classic rock music, and the Beach Boys were as classic as classic could get. That song was very similar to the Beach Boys, but in a different sense. No way that's the same song, could it?

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

He quickly turned to the stand owner and said, "Yeah… It sure is."

"Good ole' Albert Fink knows how to make some soothing melodies. How he was able to make some amazing music, I have no idea."

Jack wasn't paying attention as he was listening to the song with suspicion. "I don't know…" He said with a bit of concern, "I could've sworn that I heard that song before."

"Of course you heard that song before." the stand owner said, "Magical Melodies is famous for making wonderful songs such as this. Here you go sir! Four hotdogs and four soda pops. Two dogs with ketchup, one with mustard, and one smothered with spicy mustard. Total is twelve Silver Eagles please."

Jack turned to him and saw the food presented to him on a tray with straps to carry with. Thinking of ignoring the song, he decided to pay and was about to give him some money. "Twelve bucks huh?" he asked himself, "That's seems pretty cheap." Before he was about to give the money, he stopped and realized the guy said something. "Um, can you say that again? Did you say, Silver Eagles?" he asked him.

The stand owner looked to him oddly and said, "That's right. Silver eagles, the currency across Columbia. So you have any?"

"Uh…" Jack started looking dumbfounded, "Sorry, I don't think I have that. I only got the money in the wallet and I didn't think that I needed a different type of currency. See, my friends and I just arrived here and we aren't familiar with the traditions just yet."

The owner looked to him and had a slight smile to his face. "Ah… I see what you're talking about." he said as he figured it all out, "You and your friends are pilgrims coming to our fair city. Is that right?"

The Technorganic looked to him and answered honestly. "Something like that."

With a simple nod, he decided to give him the stuff whenever there was someone new coming "That explains everything!" he said, "Since you are new in town, I'll offer you the dogs for free. A little honesty from me to you."

Jack looked down to the tray and was delighted to know that this person was generous. "Gee, thanks for the offer." he said, "That's really kind of you."

"You're welcome buddy." he said as he started to give some advice, "But if you need some Silver Eagles for you to get by, I suggest a moseying on down to Columbia's Raffle and Fair Finkton set up for today. There are plenty of booths that have eagles for you to win. And if you enter the raffle in time, you might get lucky and win a special prize."

Jack heard that and thought that it would be a great idea to head down to the fair and get this grand prize, thinking it could be enough silver eagles to help them get by. "That sounds like an interesting offer," he said, "I'll tell my friends about it and we'll head down there. You know, this place is busy as of late. What's with all the fireworks and crowds? Is there some festivity or something?"

The stand owner laughed it up and said, "You guys are really new here huh? Today Columbia celebrates our Day of Accession!"

"Day of Accession?" the Technorganic asked in confusion, "What's that? Some kind of special event after the Fourth of July?"

"In a way, yes." he said, "July 6th marks the day we seceded from the Union. After the raid at the Boxer Rebellion, the United States government blackmailed our prophet for his actions against the Orientals. His response however was to annex himself and Columbia from them and disappear from the clouds. I do believe that it's the wisest thing he had done. All those political people who believe in equality to all? I say to Hell with them! Only the white man rules the land, no one else."

Jack looked to him suspiciously and was curious by what he says. "The white man?" he asked.

"But of course!" the man responded, "Mixing of the races, having the Negros, the Mexicans, the Irish, and all other ethnic individuals their fair share as us, to have the black man free? To our noble prophet, they are all acts of sin and those who believe in that deserves to burn in the pits of Hell. And as far as all those ethnic people say they want to be treated as equal? Well they should all get taken to Finkton and deserve to be working for us."

The Technorganic heard all this and realized something that wasn't right. Looking around, he could tell that there was nothing but white people walking around the streets. There were no Japanese, no African, no Irishmen, not even a Mexican. If they're no one else around, that could only mean one thing. Columbia is filled with a huge crowd of racists. And with Sari and Miko of different races, it could spell trouble for all of them.

"Hey pal, aren't you going to get that?" asked the stand owner, "Your dogs are starting to get cold."

Looking down at the tray, Jack picked them up and placed the strap over his neck. "Thanks." he said as he turned around while he hurried to the team with the food. He had to tell them the news he gathered and hoped it wasn't too late.

* * *

><p>Back to the others, they were waiting patiently for Jack to return with the grub. Sari and Raf were sitting politely as they looked around to see if their friend was around. Miko on the other hand was bored to death as she stretched out and had her arms over the back of her head. Sari look to her and shook her head about her posture.<p>

"Miko, that's not how women behave." she said acting like a mother.

She turned to the captain and was getting a little annoyed. "Sorry ma'am," she said with a sour look to her face, "but wearing these clothes makes me feel like I'm all too preppy."

"Just sit properly and don't gather any attention." The team leader said, "People are staring at us."

Miko looked to the people passing by and were giving them displeasing looks before looking back to her. "So what." she responded, "They've been staring at us since we got here. I mean sure we're new around here and all, but at least we have a reason in being here. We have to locate these distress signals coming from both Autobots and Decepticons, right?"

Sari sighed deeply and knew she had a point. "But of course," she said, "It's imperative we find these distress signals and locate any Cybertronian that's in distress, no matter which side they're on. Raf, find anything yet?"

Raf rolled up his sleeve and checked his onboard computer again to see if they were near. Checking quickly, he shook his head and told her, "Unfortunately, no. Damn static is making their location highly untraceable. It's going to take some time until I can make any progress in the search."

Sari nodded and decided to follow her plan. "Then it looks like we have to keep walking until we can get a lead. Let's hope Jack comes back with the food so we can eat and go. Something's just not right about this place."

"Tell me about it." Miko responded, feeling a little alert. "My mod is acting up again. Someone's coming our way."

The captain looked to the Predacon hybrid and was a bit cautious. "Who?" Before Miko could answer, they heard a voice in the distance.

"You there, halt!"

All three stopped and turned in the direction of the voice and saw two Police officers approaching them. One was clean shaven while the other one had a ring mustache and beard. The three looked at them coming their way as Raf said, "Huh… They are just the local law enforcements. Nothing to be worried about."

Still, Miko was a little hesitant as she was setting up to strike, knowing they were the ones that activated her alertness mod. Sari looked at them too and wondered why they could be a potential threat. But since they are here, she might get the help in getting out of here, let alone finding where the distress signals were located. So she got up and said, "Good afternoon officers. What can we do for you?"

The two approached them and remained silent, looking at the attire the girls were wearing. After checking them out, one of the officers said, "Well now. What do we have here?"

The other one looked at the clothes and rubbed his chin. "Hmm… Let's see… trumpet-skirts, frilly white shirtwaist blouses, a lovely bonnet and a Gibson Girl hair. I say completing the look must've cost them hundreds of Silver Eagles."

The two looked to the officers and find their behavior very off. But played along as Miko shrugged and said, "Well I was going to go for that bun look myself but I preferred the hat to cover my hair. Saves me a lot of time and all."

Sari turned to her said, "Hush Miko. Don't give the officers too much information of our personal lives."

The two cops looked to them strangely as they continued. "Hey, what kind of work you two do?" the first cop said, "You know, individuals of your particular… ethnic persuasion?"

The two remain quiet as they felt that the questions were a bit uncomfortable.

"Maybe they could be fashion models." the other said, "Or maybe hired to give out some flowers. Or perhaps they are here to pose for a painter working on a masterpiece behind the monuments."

The Japanese Predacon looked to this officer and said, "Um… No… I'm neither of the above. However, I am a musician in training. I would like to play a wicked solo for you two, but I seem to have left guitar at my home."

"Miko…" the captain said to her to quiet her.

Now the cops were getting a bit more suspicious then ever as they look to the two and decided to get right down to business.

"Where did you get those clothes." the first one said.

"And be honest with us." said the second one.

The two girls were now getting the same type of looks as the civilians around the town as Miko asked, "What? Is it a crime to wear dresses like this all of a sudden?"

The second cop turned to her and said in a sour tone, "Only if they are being worn by you, Oriental."

Now she was taken aback by that and cocked an eyebrow in confusion. "Oriental?" she asked with a bit of anger in her voice, "Who are you calling an Oriental, pal?"

"Well, I am looking at her and I could see clear as day that you scream Oriental." said the officer with a bit of a laugh.

Miko though wasn't laughing as her Predacon temper was starting to boil and stood up for herself. "Why you no good punk! When I get my hands on you-"

Sari immediately stopped her and stood up with her hand out to get her back. "Enough Miko! Let me handle this." The hybrid crossed her arms and gave a bit of a pout while Sari stepped in and defended her and her comrade. "My apologize officers, but we haven't done anything wrong around here. See, we are new in town and wanted to find proper attire to make us more presentable. So we took some clothes within one of the warehouses and-"

"So you stole them?" the second one said as he put the pieces together.

Sari rolled her eyes and responded in a pleasant yet serious matter. "More like borrowed the clothes if that's what you mean. But we've taken the liberty in writing the note for the owners and said that we will reimburse them."

"Is that so?" the first officer said with a bit of a cold glare. "Well from what I'm hearing, stealing is still stealing and you have to pay the price for that, Indian."

Now it was Sari that was shocked to hear the cop called her an Indian and said, "Please, if you can take us to this Comstock person, then we can iron things out and-"

"Our noble prophet doesn't have the time in speaking to those of different races." the second one interrupted, "Not even between the two of you."

Raf overheard this and was getting worried that this wasn't going to be a peaceful talk. He already noticed a flock of people starting to gather around the argument and were whispering and giving them the icy stares. Just then, something hit him. This flying city, the huge masses of white people, the year of 1912, it's all coming together. Getting up, he approached Sari and said, "Captain, now is not the time for talk. We have to leave at once."

The Technorganic gave him a confused expression and asked right away. "What do you mean, Raf?"

"Look around you." he said presenting the flock of people observing the argument, "Can't you see what it wrong here. There's a lot of people, but they are of one race."

"So…" Miko said with a bit of curiosity.

Raf turned to the Predacon hybrid and said, "Don't you get it? If we're in the year of 1912, then that means that these people are-" Before he could even finish his conclusion, one of the patrons started to banter to the group.

"Hey! What are you doing talking to those animals! Why don't you leave this holy place and return to the Sodom below to make friends of different races."

Then another.

"Get out of our fair city Indian girl!"

And another.

"Hang the Oriental! Hang her!"

Soon enough, a riot ensued as the citizens start to call them out while some of them begin throwing rocks at them. The group immediately covered themselves as the rocks hit them. Miko, overhearing this, had finally figured out what her friend was saying.

"Don't tell me." she said getting slightly annoyed, "These people are racists?!"

"Worse yet," the super soldier corrected, "This city is full of racists!"

The cop then approached him and was curious about his relationship to the two girls. "You there!" he said, "Do you know these two?"

Rafael turned to him and answered, "Yes, they're my friends!"

"So you're friends with these races?" he asked in surprise, "Didn't think someone like you would like to mingle with people of a non-white community."

The second cop then approached him and took a closer look at the young man and noticed that he's different as well. "I don't know about that." he said, "By the looks of it, he seems to be a bit of a Mexican decent."

The first cop turned to him with a bit of shock and said, "Is he now?" Turning back to the super soldier, he then asked, "And I guess that you helped these two steal those clothes, did you?"

Raf was a little silent and didn't know what to say. Sure he and the others took some clothes, but only to make them presentable. As the three were quiet, the cops looked to each other and decided to take them in. "All right, "the first officer said as he took pieces of rope-like cuffs out, "You three are coming with us." He then approached and was about to arrest them.

The first he started to arrest was Miko as he was about to put her wrists to the ropes. Seeing that, the Predacon Hybrid intervened and pushed the officer away with sheer strength. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" she yelled in a booming voice. The officer was taken aback by the unexpected push and rolled to the floor as the crowed grew silent, witnessing the event unfurl. He shook off from the push and had a sour look from his face. "Oh! This Oriental is a feisty one!" he said with a bit of anger, "We got to do something about that! Thomas, take care of the other two while I deal with this one." Thomas nodded and went on ahead to apprehend Sari and Raf while the first officer got up and tried to restrain Miko.

* * *

><p>As all of this was going on, Jack was carrying the hot dogs and sodas for him and his friends and hurried to get to them in time. After hearing what the hot dog stand owner said to him, that Columbia is pretty much a city dedicated to white superiority, he knew that his friends were in grave danger. By the time he got there, he saw a group of people gathered around the bench where his teammates were waiting for him. Worried about them, he slowly pushed his way through the crowd and hoped that they hadn't gotten into trouble. Once he got a clear enough room, he could see two cops arresting the team. Seeing this, he had to do something and fast before they took them away to who knows where. So under direct foolishness, he shoved the rest of the people away and stopped the officers that already had them in ropes.<p>

"Wait stop!" he screamed out loud before they could take them away. "Let them go!"

The three turned to see Jack coming in and knew that he'd be in as big of trouble as them. "Jack wait!" the teacher said to the student, "Don't do this! It's not worth the risk!"

But the two officers stopped what they were doing and turned to the Technorganic as the civilians watched on and wondered what he was doing. "What's the meaning of this boy?" Thomas said in an aggravated tone, "Can't you see we're apprehending these folks for dressing like the white man? You best be moving along if you know what's good for you."

Jack though didn't listen as he told them that they were innocent in all of this. "But they are innocent people!" he argued back, "They haven't done anything wrong!"

The other cop then approached him and said, "Anyone of a different race that takes a white man's clothes and dress up to think they're better than us deserves to be punished. Who do you think you are saving these folks? You're not their friend are you?"

There was a bit of silence as Jack had to find a way of approaching this without getting himself into trouble. But with no other way out, he gave up and immediately said, "Yes! Yes I am! We're new in town and we didn't think that this town has a little discrimination around here. So if you can just let them go and show us the way out, then we would gladly appreciate it."

The Skystrikers looked to their comrade and thought that he was crazy enough to give them an offer in letting go. "Dude, has Jack lost it or something?" Miko said in a bit of worry, "No way he's going to convince the cops in freeing us."

"Just give him a chance Miko." Raf said, "I'm sure he knows what he's doing."

The Predacon Hybrid looked to him and was still a little hesitant. "Oh sure, like he could be the voice of reason or something. We're all going to die."

The cops looked at him strangely and were surprised that he was friends with those of a different skin. But then, the light bulbs on their heads started to click as they were piecing together what they had gathered. "So if they are your friends, did you help steal theses clothes?" one asked.

Jack looked to the two and knew he had to be honest. "Yes, we did." he answered, "But we did it to make ourselves more presentable. Just give me some time to explain about us and you'll get better understanding."

Now the officers got what they wanted and decided to bring him in as well before he could explain himself. It was then that Thomas turned to him and said, "Son, you're coming with us. You and your racial friends."

The other officer then approached Jack with cuffs of his own and slowly approached him. Jack stepped back and didn't expect them to react like that and arrest him as well. He looked down at the tray filled with hot dogs and sodas he was holding around the strap. Looking up, he came up with a plan. "Please guys, don't arrest me." he said with a little plea in his voice, "At least let me have my lunch. How about a little peace offering. You guys want a hot dog?" The officer still didn't listen and was about to apprehend him. "No?" Still nothing… "Come on now, it's on the HOUSE!"

Immediately, he threw the contents at the cop's face as he was covered with dogs, condiments, and sodas. Removing the straps for the tray, he used it to hit the officer up the head while he was being distracted by the unexpected attack. With him temporarily down, Thomas was caught by surprise and tried to intervene. But before he could even get his club out, the Technorganic dropped the tray and rushed to him, delivering a swift punch to the face, knocking him off his feet. With them both down, he approached his team and checked to see if they were all right, starting with the captain.

"Sensei, are you all right?" he asked.

Sari looked to him and nodded, saying, "Yeah, we're fine. But you should've known better than to attack the local authorities."

Jack smirked and said, "Well, when they tend to hurt the team, I had to act. Now let's get out of here before the folks here get-"

Before he could even finish, some form of electricity came from out of nowhere and hit him. That sent of surge of electricity all over his body and he was screaming in pain while the others watched in horror.

"Jack!" they all said in unison.

The Technorganic then started to pass out of the lightning strike and remained unconscious on the floor. The moment he fell the officer he attacked approached with, oddly enough, crystals poking out of his skin as electricity danced around them. Thomas then got up from the hit and felt a little sore from it.

"Good golly…" he said rubbing his cheek, "Who would've thought the young lad could pack quite a wallop." He then turned to his comrade and said, "Thanks for the assist Daniel."

Daniel turned to him and said, "Don't mention it. Got to say, these new Shock Jockey Vigors got quite the kick."

"Get some cuffs on him and take the others." he said as Daniel started to get the cuffs on him.

"So what are we going to do with them?" he asked as Thomas looked at the group with worried eyes. After much thinking, he came up with a solution. "See if we can get a gondola, let Fink handle these four."

Soon enough the two officers picked the Skystrikers up and took them to this Fink person. As they were taking them and the crowd was dispersing, Sari had a bad feeling in her Spark that it was only going to get worse from here on out.

* * *

><p><strong>Yep, things went bad for the Skystrickers. And giving that they will be taken to Fink, you know that it's as bad. Luckily something's going to happen that would save them. I'm pretty sure you know what. Hope you enjoyed it. The next chapter will be about the annual 1912 Raffle, and we all know how that went. Stand by for another update. Please Review.<strong>


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